


I Was Never Good Enough...(Until I Was)

by Cerberus_Spectre



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Once Upon a Time (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex Danvers Bash-a-thon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, CEO Kara Zor-El, Confident Kara Danvers, Emma & Kara BroTP, Ever - Freeform, F/F, Kara Danvers-centric, Lena Luthor-centric, Magic Cock, Mama Cat (hinted), Method and Tight Control To The Madness of My Writings, National City is the safest place, References to Depression, Release Control, Sex Magic, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Soul Bond, SuperCorp, SuperQuake BroTP, SuperSwan BroTP, SuperWidow team up, Supergirl and Black Widow, The DEO ain't shit, Total Power Exchange-SuperCorp, bros before hoes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 15:35:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 95,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9555257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerberus_Spectre/pseuds/Cerberus_Spectre
Summary: “This place it's...kinda like...it's a safe haven for me.” Kara added, then immediately regretted when the older woman's eyes snapped back to hers with a renewed interest.“Oh? Do tell.” she purred, swishing her wine around in her glass, holding Kara down with a look alone.“I-I can't explain it, but...um,” The young hero squirmed in her seat, blushing from the heat of the look she was getting and decided it was definitely time to go, “Just millennial drama. Um, thanks for the water...?”“Lena.”Kara stood and pushed in her chair politely, “Thanks for the water, Lena. Goodnight or good morning, whichever is right.” with that Kara hurried away from the intimidating woman, unaware of those predatory eyes following her out the door. Lena caught Mike staring longingly at the door and she scowled, eyes briefly flashing yellow before she went back to nursing her wine. Her thoughts centered on the blonde that just ran out of her bar like a bat out of hell.///This is mainly a Supergirl story, but I have borrowed characters from OUAT, and MCU. Be warned, this is also a slow burn.





	1. It's(Not)Okay

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Supergirl.
> 
> SuperCorp slow burn, there is magic involved in this fic, I don't know how emotional this will be because I don't tab into my own emotions like that. I can't...it's very hard, but I can relate to the content in this fic. Depression...on any level is nothing to look down on or be ashamed of. It can never be cured, it'll never go away but there are ways to heal your mind and body from it. I'm still working on that part...but writing is a form of self-therapy for me.
> 
> Whew, anyways. Thanks for checking in! Enjoy!

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Kara stood on top of CatCo with her arms hanging loosely at her sides, overlooking the city she loved dearly. The city that was filled with so much life, so much culture—from all over the galaxy, and yet here she stood. Alone. Her cape snapping sharply with the wind behind her, her hair following suit but not as violently as the fabric.

Lately, Kara had been doing a lot of reflecting. Coming to terms with many things she's otherwise ignored (or tried to). Putting on a show that everything was alright, that her wounds...her PTSD was a thing of the past. She wanted everyone to be happy, at the cost of her own, because that's what heroes do. Right? _Right?_ It wasn't like Kara wasn't completely overlooked, her friends and...adoptive family asked if she was alright, checked in often and kept her company. Yes, she was fine...sometimes, she really meant it as she took the food with a bright smile that eased the worry of her friends.

But they were barely scratching the surface. Kara was not alright, and everything was not fine. Not always.

Krypton was gone.

Her real parents were gone.

Jeremiah was gone.

Astra was gone.

Non and his crazy followers were gone (but they were her people—it still hurt, yet it was necessary).

Lucy was...well Lucy disappeared without so much of a goodbye, and Kara could understand why. With everything that happened between her and James, followed by myriad and all of humanity almost dying the most painful death possible. Kara understood why Lucy left. But the young hero thought she at least deserved a goodbye from the younger Lane. Kara thought they were friends. Maybe... Kara sighed, brushing aside those thoughts while listening in to a police scanner...but it wasn't something they needed her for. So she let it be.

Clark..Kal-El...well, she never really had him...he was a stranger to her as much as she was one to him. Kara couldn't bring herself to pretend to care anymore. Kal-El was a disgrace to everything Kryptonian, and Kara was tired of denying that fact. Kara knew by fact...that was truly the last Kryptonian.

Usually, by this point, Kara would be perched somewhere on Cat's balcony, listening to the woman's heartbeat as they sat in silence, simmering down from the day's events. But now, Cat was gone too. One of the few constants in her life, if not the biggest...was no longer hers to look forward to anymore. At least Cat, her mentor, her...crush was out of her life.

Though Kara was always too shy to even admit that herself...before, now it was all she could think about. Regret, really. But... the complications. With Kara's own double life, and Cat's public profile and personal life that Kara wouldn't have fit into properly anyway. Kara wondered if she should have at least tried to say something... _anything_...before Cat took her leave.

(It was a regret she'd have to live with...like many others)

Cat offered, though. Her open door policy, no matter where she was in the world. Her balcony was always open. To both Kara _and_ Supergirl (yeah, they were still pretending they were not the same person.

But Kara knew, for her own sake, she wasn't going to take her up on that offer. At least, not anytime soon. Being truthful, for a minute, Kara wasn't sure she ever would. She always did the chasing, but no one ever chased her. No one ever bothered to seek her out, Supergirl, yes, sure. But Kara Danvers? Kara Zor-El...she wasn't good enough to be chased. Kara wanted to hate Supergirl, but that would be ridiculous...but at the same time, it wasn't.

Everyone she knew that knew her secret...never really looked at the her. The young girl that watched her parents, her entire culture, burn to death. They saw _her._ Supergirl. The Girl of Steel, who could do anything with a bright smile, helping people whenever they needed her. And Kara didn’t mind, really, she didn’t. But sometimes...it would be nice for someone to actually... _see_ her. _Look_ at _her._

Lately, Kara has taken up going to the far side of town for solace. Going to an unnamed alley bar, a bar she was drawn to like magic. And drinking at the bar alone and watching whatever was on TV. She was a regular there, by now after a couple of weeks, but no one paid her much attention. She was just another person drinking away their problems, like the rest of the bar patrons that knew and frequented that bar. And for a time, Kara loved it. Being normal. Or pretending to be, and _succeeding for once._

Her control, though...it was slipping. Everyday, it was slipping. She had to take out her trash more often now so Alex wouldn't see all the broken coffee mugs. Or the utensils she often snapped in half—or the ones she's accidentally broken with her teeth. And that was just the kitchen drama she was dealing with on a daily basis now.

Fighting aliens and flying were no longer working for her, she was wound up physically and emotionally and Kara was scared she would snap and this time, there wouldn't be any red Kryptonite to hide behind. She was constantly having to control herself, right down to how she smiled. And—

Kara turned her head slightly, listening intently. She sighed softly, eyes closing briefly. “Duty calls, Supergirl.”

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“Hey Kara, are you sure you're alright? You don't look...happy.”

“Maybe it's 'cause I don't have a girlfriend waiting at home for me.” Kara smirked at Alex and shrugged,nudging the detective's shoulder with her own. They were in the DEO command center doing absolutely nothing but watching the other Agents do work.

Kara was truly happy that her sister was finally getting out there and dating—Kara liked Maggie, she was good for Alex. Made her smile a lot more. And joke around a lot more. She even arrived to the DEO late and stopped giving Kara shit about every little thing she did. Alex was glowing and the last thing the blonde wanted to do was ruin that with her drama...so she didn’t. Alex had always been there for her, watching her back. She deserved a break.

“Speaking of Maggie, I thought you guys have a date tonight?”

“Yep, we do. She's cooking dinner. At my place. Because I gave her my spare key.” Alex nodded, trying to hide her dopey smile. She didn’t want the junior Agents thinking she was suddenly going soft.

Kara threw her head back, laughing, “You're so in love. It's so cute! Oh my gosh, are you blushing?!”

“Whoa, hey! Shh!” Alex glared at anyone who dared to look in their direction, “And for the record, I am _not_ cute, I'm hot. Besides, you won't be making fun of me for long.”

Kara frowned, confused, “What do you mean?”

“You're gonna find someone who makes you as happy as Maggie makes me. I promise, kid.”

Kara couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes, though she knew that Alex didn’t mean any harm, “I doubt it. I don't really have the time to date with CatCo and Supergirl now taking up my time.” Kara was out of her chair before Alex could think of a response, “And speaking of CatCo...I gotta go sign some paperwork before tomorrow. Tell Maggie I said hi, yeah?”

Alex nodded, knowing she just pushed her 'little sister from another mother' too much, “Yeah, sure but Kara—” but the hero was already gone. And left the trash for Alex to clean up. _Of course._

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Kara wasn't lying when she told Alex she had paperwork to review and sign before tomorrow, but they weren’t as urgent as she made it seem. Kara just wanted to leave to avoid talking about another person she'd eventually love that could and would eventually walk out of her life like it was nothing...even if she has yet to meet them. Kara stopped by her apartment to change clothes, forgoing her usual cardigan she settled for a pair of tight jeans, her favorite riding boots and a tank top.

She wore the confining helmet to avoid getting pulled over (again), otherwise she didn’t bother with any of the other safety gear **(though one should** _ **always**_ **wear safety gear when riding, the author does)**. Instead of going to CatCo, however, Kara went to her favorite dive bar. For a place that was literally hidden off the maps, it was always crowded. By this point, Kara recognized the cars in the parking lot between the abandoned buildings. Mostly expensive cars and other bikers there, different breeds of people, same purpose. Kara was taking off her full faced helmet as she walked into the bar, feeling the stress leave her body as she sat at the bar. She didn’t even have to ask, the bartender, Mike, already had her Jack and Coke sitting in front of her accompanied by a small bowl of peanuts.

“Was wondering if I'd see you tonight, how are you?”

Kara sighed, Mike just didn’t know when to quit, she was half convinced that he was in love with her by now. And she didn’t even tell the man her name. “I've had a long day, Mike.”

Whether it was her tone or the tightness around those icy blue eyes, Mike nodded and backed off. He made his way down the bar to talk a few other patrons, leaving Kara in peace. With the two TV's playing in the background, along with the soft rock from the jukebox and the sound of the pool balls hitting each other, Kara was able to leisurely enjoy her drink.

Kara was on her fifth Lemmy when _she_ walked in. She didn’t have to turn around to know she was here. Half the patrons in the bar, who weren’t in a alcohol induced coma already, turned to stare. That and Kara recognized the pattern of her heartbeat now. Kara was always aware of the woman's presence with and without her powers. (That theory has been tested twice now).The woman's scent was all over the bar, as well and Kara knew that by heart too.

Kara had no idea who the woman was, but she was drop dead gorgeous and always kept to herself in the corner of the bar. No one sat there, it was like her name was on the table or something. Not that Kara knew of, anyhow. The blonde was half sure that the sultry brunette owned this bar, especially when watching Mike practically trip over his own feet to deliver the woman's preferred drink before she even sat down.

Kara checked her watch and sighed heavily, downing the rest of the contents in her glass. It was thirty minutes passed one in the morning, it was time to go home and get at least four or five hours worth of sleep. She'd rather not show up to working looking like road-kill. _Again._ She grabbed her helmet and made her way to the women's bathroom, which (of course) meant she had to walk by her table. Kara met those captivating green eyes for a moment, but a moment was all it took to draw her in. Had Kara been human, she would’ve been dazzled and embarrassingly off balance. There was something wise in those eyes, something wise and sharp indeed. Kara could feel it and she had a hard time breaking eye contact until the brunette looked away, a smirk playing at her red lips.

When Kara came back out and went to the bar for one last drink, Mike smiled at her nervously, “Uh, I'm sorry...but um, you're cut off for the night.”

Kara stared at him incredulously, and already annoyed, “What? I'm cut off? But you never cut me off before!”

“Wasn't my call!” he raised his hands in surrender then gestured behind her, “The boss said you had enough and even covered your tab.”

Kara followed his gaze and found those mesmerizing viridescent eyes looking back at her, amused and knowing. Before she could even think it through, Kara was marching over to the woman's table, “I'm not drunk!” that's...not exactly what she wanted to say, well she wasn't exactly sure _what_ she wanted to say to the brunette, who _was_ in fact the owner of the bar.

“Never said you were, darling.” the woman had a hint of an Irish accent though not strong, but not easily overlooked either.

“So, then, why cut me off? Believe it or not, I can hold my own in a bar, alright?” There was just something about this woman that irritated her in the most attractive way possible. Which just further frustrated the Kryptonian.

The woman glanced at the helmet in Kara's hand, “I think you’ve had enough.”

Mouth opened to protest more but Kara resisted. Barely. She could understand why the woman would cut her off now—two wheels was always more dangerous than four, and Kara wasn't exactly drinking fruity drinks for an hour straight. Anyone else should've been stumbling and/or on the floor passed out.

The brunette leaned forward and flipped over the second glass on the tray and poured Kara some water from the small pitcher next to the wine bottle, (why did she even have two glasses when she's always sitting alone?), “Sit down.”

Suddenly Kara was uncomfortable, and became aware she was one the verge of overstaying her welcome. “Oh...oh no, I'm fine I swear. Um, I was actually just heading out anyway. But thank—”

“I said sit down.” her tone was still soft and silky, but firmer when she repeated herself. Kara didn’t want to upset the owner of her favorite bar, so she sat down. (it had nothing to do with the fact that she was undeniably attracted to the woman, and was instantly turned on by her firm tone. Nothing at all. Nope.) “Drink.”

Kara drank, forcing herself to take her time. To seem more human and polite...not to draw this moment out. She was just being polite.

“I've been watching you for a while now.” Kara raised a brow as she set her glass down, _that wasn't creepy at all,_ “It's dangerous for a young woman like you to be in this part of town, you know.”

“Maybe I just like it here. The bar I mean.”

The older woman rolled her eyes slightly, “This place is a dump.”

“It has character!” Kara shrugged, “Plus, it obviously can't be _that_ bad. There are people here like, all the time.”

The owner scoffed, and waved her hand carelessly, “The booze is cheap.”

“This place it's...kinda like...it's a safe haven for me.” Kara added, then immediately regretted when the older woman's eyes snapped back to hers with a renewed interest.

“Oh? Do tell.” she purred, swishing her wine around in her glass, holding Kara down with a look alone.

“I-I can't explain it, but...um,” The young hero squirmed in her seat, blushing from the heat of the look she was getting and decided it was definitely time to go, “Just millennial drama. Um, thanks for the water...?”

“Lena.”

Kara stood and pushed in her chair politely, “Thanks for the water, Lena. Goodnight or good morning, whichever is right.” with that Kara hurried away from the intimidating woman, unaware of those predatory eyes following her out the door. Lena caught Mike staring longingly at the door and she scowled, eyes briefly flashing yellow before she went back to nursing her wine. Her thoughts centered on the blonde that just ran out of her bar like a bat out of hell.

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	2. Pandora's Box

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Supergirl has been getting her ass kicked all week. Between Alex fussing at her for not being more careful and being distracted and all the editing assignments that has been steadily piling up on her desk. It was only a matter of time before Kara snapped at someone or something. She hasn’t even found the time to make her way to her favorite dive bar though now she'd admit, if only to herself, that she had ulterior motives for wanting to get back to the bar. And it had nothing to drinking herself down to bottom of several Jack Daniels bottles.

Kara was tempted to leave her office and go there now, and finish all of this work tomorrow morning—but with her luck the DEO will lose three more prisoners and leave her to clean up their mess. She wanted to tell them to leave her the hell alone, and give her a break. They always felt the need to tell Kara that they've been doing this long before she came along, anyway.

_Well._

The Kryptonian sighed harshly and pushed herself away from her desk before she did something rash like break something. Kara decided to take a walk through the empty halls of CatCo and went to to vending machine, and purchased candy and chips and swiped two bottles of water from the community fridge. She had no idea who 'David' was, but he just lost his cake because Kara took that too. Simultaneously, Kara was able to stuff her face without wasting so much as a crumb and getting her assignments completed right before their deadlines.

Kara checked the time on the wall clock and saw that it was a little late, but she could still make it to the bar if she flew. She wondered if it was worth the risk...she checked her phone and saw that she didn’t miss any texts or calls, and the city was fairly quiet tonight. Kara decided to forgo the bar tonight and just go home.

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_The next day..._

Kara work up later than usual, but she'd already emailed Snapper that she'd be taking the day for herself. She knew he couldn't say much about it since he now had fifty-seven edits finished and on his desk, ready for print. Kara was browsing the web with a bowl of cereal balanced in her hand, and her tablet in the other.

She was looking up new and uncommon ways to relieve stress. Something...out there. The usual stress relief methods for the average human wasn't exactly too helpful the Kryptonian. She browsed through seventeen pages of Google before she decided to just give it up and sign up for therapy. Of course that would be disastrous in itself because what's the point of therapy if Kara was going to have to lie through it all.

Kara Googled it anyway. Of course she got a bunch of ads for multiple therapists in National City that claimed they were the best in the business and could instantly cure her of any sort of depression and a long list of other mental illnesses she was dealing with.

There were more than fifteen claiming to be miracle workers and Kara was annoyed. She was about to close out the search tab when something interesting caught her eye on the seventh page.

**_Pandora's Box: Healing Yourself_ **

_Huh._ Kara stared at the link for a moment, hesitating before clicking the link. There were no pictures or pop up ads, which was a plus in the Kryptonians book. Kara sat up a little more and set the bowl in her lap to focus on what she was looking at. She wasn't too sure _why_ she even clicked the link in the first place. A website with no pictures should've been a huge no, like all of the others, but there was just something about this particular site that drew her in and she hadn’t even started to read anything. _Yet._

It could've been the simple dark gray-ish black background that complimented the red hyperlinks and the off-white texts. It could've been the fact that Kara didn’t feel overwhelmed with ads and cross eyed from the harsh mess of black words against the bright background. She couldn't pinpoint, the what or the why, but she was interested.

**_The definition of stress is very simple. That is why you are here right now, right? Yes. It is. While the definition of stress is the easy part...the hard part is pinpointing that stress. isn’t it?_ **

**_Before you move on, you need to ask yourself these seemingly simple questions:_ **

  * **_Where_** **_did this stress even come from? Where does it end?_**
  * **_What_** **_can I do to reduce it? What can I say without screaming? What will_** **_it take to feel 'normal' again?_**
  * **_When_** **_did it become so hard to smile? When did I start to cry this much?_** **_When does it stop? When can I start controlling my emotions again?_** **_When did I stop feeling my emotions?_**
  * **_Why_** **_does it suddenly feel so hard to breathe, to think...to do anything?_** **_Why do I suddenly feel like screaming all the time? Why do I lie_** **_about this? Why?_**
  * **_Who_** **_can I talk to? Who should I turn? Who can I trust?_**



**_Stress starts small then it becomes a label we all fear all too easily, but are susceptible to as a whole. It's all too common but doing something about the lack of answers you were able to provide yourself while asking the questions above...is not._ **

**_These questions aren’t designed to help you get the answers in with a snap of your fingers and suddenly you're 'cured'. Hard truth is that you’ll never be cured. Not from your own mind. Being cured means you'll rid yourself of whatever demons that are haunting you day in and day out. No, these questions are meant to help you realize that you're dealing with more than 'just stress'. There is no such cure for that, but you can be healed. It is not uncommon to feel the like the weight of the world is sitting on your shoulders, crumbling while you stand there doing nothing. To feel like your friends and family don't know you enough to see the real you is in dire need of help. Otherworldly stress and depression can be healed with the proper guidance and support. A strong support system from one person or twenty, is still better than zero. And suffering alone._ **

**_It becomes not only dangerous to yourself, but to those around you. Do not let your demons consume you._ ** **_Stop being everyone else's hero and be your own hero for once._ ** **_You will not be judged for wanting to live._ **

**_Your mind is your own worst enemy, but you are not in the rabbit hole alone. We have all been there. Whether it's a professional or a stranger. Do not be afraid to talk before talking becomes too late._ **

Kara blinked, startling herself when a tear or two escaped from her eyes. Reading that entire passage was strange for Kara, but it hit too close to home for her liking. It unsettled her and comforted her at the same time. She wasn't sure what to do with that—she wasn't sure if she could. Kara tried to click the other links, to find reviews or something else to read but they didn’t work. She refreshed the page and nothing. It was just this one page. One page that was literally just talking to her.

The young hero didn’t care how crazy it sounded, this page was created for her. Who ever wrote it had been in her shoes once and clearly better off. That was more than what she could say about the 'number one' therapists scattered all over the city. Just then she heard sirens in the near distance and her phone began to ring at that moment, Alex's ring-tone. _Not a coincidence at all._

Kara bookmarked the page for later, and was out of her apartment in two seconds flat.

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Kara dropped off the spiky alien off at the DEO in the lobby with a loud crashing thud. All of the Agents including the two Directors paused, looking between her and the alien. Hank tasked a few senior Agents to moving the alien down into lock up and gave Alex a meaningful look before leaving the room. Alex approached Kara smiling cautiously, “You doing okay, kid? You were looking kind of sluggish out there?”

“Oh um,”Kara rubbed the back of her neck, a little embarrassed, “Yeah, I'm okay Alex. I just have a lot on my mind right now...I'm fine though.”

Alex placed her hand on Kara's upper to reassure her and to keep her sister from running off this time, “Are you sure Kara? You know you can tell me anything right, I'm your big sister. I'm here to help you.” Alex laughed lightly, “You know mom would kick my ass if something happened to you on my watch.”

Kara laughed too but it was a little too forced and Alex noticed, but before either could really get another word in a junior Agent came running up to Alex, requesting her help with something. Alex sighed and squeezed her sister's arm apologetically, “I'll call you later okay?”

“Okay, sure.”

Alex frowned slightly, “Maybe Maggie and I can stop by later with pizza and have movie night?”

Kara shook her head, forcing another smile, “Oh uh...sorry I have plans tonight. With...some friends.” she had no plans but she knew if she was alone with both Alex and Maggie, they'd interrogate her relentlessly about everything.

“Plans? With who...?” as far as Alex was concerned, Winn was busy with the DEO and was at his desk nearly 24/7 and Kara and James didn’t even live on the same planet anymore. Kara didn’t have any friends. “Kara...” the Agent trailed off warningly, “Who are you hanging out with? You know how dangerous that is!”

“Agent Danvers!”

“First the bike that you don't even need, now this? We're talking tonight, Kara.”

Kara watched her sister storm off in a fit, and she couldn't help but feel bad. Supergirl stood there awkwardly as she stared after her sister, mouth open to protest that she _paid_ for both her apartment and her bike—not Alex. She wanted to tell Alex that she was allowed to have friends, (even if that wasn't particularly true...Kara didn’t really have _friends_ ). But even if she did! Those friends didn’t have to know she was Supergirl. She wanted to _scream_ at Alex that she should put more trust in Kara's judgment skills.

But Kara didn’t. Because...maybe Alex was right. But in Kara's heart. She knew she wasn't...but she'd always continue to be 'right' if Kara didn’t speak up. _Where does it end?_ The article from early came crashing back on her like a shock to her system. _Where did this stress even come from?_ Icy blue eyes took one glance at her sister then at the Agents hustling around her and finally to her once friend Winn. Winn and James seemed to have formed a bond over their apparent friendzone status and left Kara in the cold. As Kara turned to rush out of the DEO as fast as possible, she felt good that she at least found a piece of an answer to the questions that have been knocking around in her head.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara/Lena in the next chapter. All mistakes are my own...I wasn't really sure about this one, but I'm not gonna second guess. Ya'll tell me if it sucked, lol. Thanks for the kudos and lovely comments!


	3. Sucker for Pain

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_Kara had flown as fast and as hard as she could to her Aunt's location without breaking the sound barrier so close to the ground and destroying the surrounding buildings...she was a less than a quarter of a mile when she spotted Astra and J'onn fighting hand to hand on the rooftop of a parking garage. She knew that the DEO were going to try to bring her Aunt into custody again, and that they weren’t going to treat her any better than they have before—especially with General Lane still lurking around the city._

_The Kryptonian stopped in mid-flight, the momentum behind her nearly knocking her off course due to her sudden stop. Kara opened her mouth to scream in horror. To scream out a warning. Not for J'onn but for Aunt Astra to turn around...even at the cost of Hank and Alex's life. Kara was about to take the life of two for the price of one...but nothing but air came out, a small little croak of despair as she watched Agent Danvers drive the Kryptonian sword through her Aunt's chest from behind._

_Astra didn’t fall. Didn't stagger but instead everything went still around them as Astra looked at Kara, “Little One...”_

Kara slowly opened her eyes, vision blurry through the fresh tears. The laid there, staring up at the ceiling fan, eyes following a single blade until the pounding organ in her chest finally stopped tearing itself in half a little more. It was always the same dream, but at least this time Kara didn’t wake up screaming Astra's name. Screaming for her to turn around. Kara was especially thankful that she hadn’t lasered anymore holes in the ceiling. She wasn't sure if her security deposit would cover the roof caving in.

Kara's mind drifted back to that nightmare that was simply just a dream now. Five months later and she still didn’t know why the DEO had a sword made out of Kryptonite. It was a very creative weapon considering that she and Kal-El were the only known Kryptonians before Non and Astra showed up. And it bothered her that Alex knew how to wield the damned thing.

Shaking away those harrowing thoughts, the Kryptonian glanced at the clock before rising out of bed. Knowing she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep at three in the morning. And even if she could...she wasn't. Kara splashed her face with some cold water that she barely even felt and stared at her reflection, barely even recognizing the woman staring back at her.

Kara had wanted to be the one to bring her Aunt Astra in. She wanted to be the one to talk her down, to talk her away from Non. She knew, in her heart, that Astra saw both sides of the battle unlike her husband and that she could be reasoned with! The DEO...Alex and Hank...they didn’t know Astra the way she did. All they knew of her was through her actions on this particular planet. They didn’t understand. They would never understand. No one would...not even Kal-El.

“Guess it's as good of a night as any for a little Supergirl patrolling.”

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 _Supergirl patrolling. My. Ass._ Kara snorted into her Tumblr, taking a long sip of her favorite alcoholic drink. Wishing, not for the first time, that it could knock her on her ass and make her forget everything. Even if it was temporary. She sat hunched over the bar like a sloth, back to the entire bar. Even Mike had enough common sense not to bother her tonight. There was just something in the blonde's eyes that told him to back off—fortunately for them both, he heeded the silent warning and only came within five feet of her to refill her drink. Kara appreciated the fact that she tasted for JD than the coke. Times when she was feeling like this, she wanted to just take off to Mexico and live off tequila and tacos for a week or two.

Kara allowed her eyes to slip close for a few seconds, but those few seconds was all she needed to see Alex driving that lime green sword through her Aunt's chest like it was nothing. And Kara reared back in her seat, almost falling off her stool in the process. A few patrons looked her way curiously, but the curiosity was gone in a split second. Going back to their own cheap booze and limitless demons.

Glass shattered caught her attention, and she looked around to see the bar fight but nothing was happening. Kara only realized it was _her_ that broke the glass a moment too late because Mike was already in front of her cleaning the mess in a slight panic while staring at her flawless hand that was covered in glass. The bars dim lighting made them shine like little diamonds on her skin.

“H-how are you okay?” he asked, turning her hand this way and that, “You should've lost a finger or somethin'!”

“I'm fine, Mike, just get me another drink.” Kara snatched her hand away from him, perhaps with a little too much force. Mike nearly came over the counter top, and he'd definitely be feeling that later.

He nodded and went off to get another bottle from the backroom. As she waited, Kara felt eyes on her back. It was an intense feeling she couldn't ignore, now that she was aware of it. The young hero turned on her stool, already knowing where to look. She must have been more out of it than she thought because she didn’t even notice the brunette walk in, or maybe she was already there when Kara arrived. The alien wasn't sure. Mike brought her a new drink quietly and left just as quietly.

Before she could over-think it, Kara grabbed her helmet and drink and made her way to Lena's corner. Easily keeping her balance and weaving around the tables despite the amount of alcohol she's already consumed. But Lena didn’t seem the least bit impressed by this.

“Can I join you, Lena?”

“Yes.”

Kara set her helmet down on the floor between her feet and got comfortable. She didn’t know what to say, and Lena didn’t feel inclined to say anything. So they both sat there nursing their drinks respectively while Lena's eyes roamed her bar casually and Kara simply stared at the wall behind the brunette's head blankly.

“What brings you here tonight?”

Kara lazily met Lena's steady, impossibly sober gaze. The Kryptonian was sleepy, but sleep hasn’t exactly been kind to her in the past five months. “I couldn't sleep.”

Lena studied her a little longer, “I never caught your name.”

“I never gave it.”

“I know.” Lena chuckled into her wine glass, still holding Kara's half lidded gaze, “However, if you're going to keep guzzling all of my Jack Daniels. Don't you think I at least deserve to know your name?” Lena's tone was soft but it was still as firm as Kara remembered. She didn’t think the woman was purposely trying to be firm. She just had a natural aura of confidence and authority. And Kara was just drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

“I...” Kara laced her fingers together around her glass, and twirled her thumbs, _what was the harm?_ “My name is Kara.”

“Kara.” the bar owner repeated serenely. Kara liked the way she said her name...like it was water from the holy grail. The Kryptonian blushed and stared down into the dark amber liquid in her glass. “Well. It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Kara.”

“Uh, yeah. You too, Lena.” Kara looked up again, but Lena was scanning the bar once more, eyes ever alert despite the fact that she drank half a bottle of wine by herself already. Suddenly Kara was feeling bold enough to strike up more conversation. “You don't look like the type of person to own a bar like this.”

“And you don't look like the type of person to frequent a bar like this, yet here we are, Kara.”

“I'm...sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I'm judging you. I just—”

Lena smiled at Kara, green eyes sparkling, “No offense was taken, Kara.”

It took a moment for the Kryptonian to understand, and she finally relaxed when realized that Lena was just pulling her chain, “So...um, how long have you lived in National City?” _small talk. Really, Kara? Small talk._ She blamed it on the lack of people she's had to personally interact with, without James or Alex or even Winn to run interference for her. Kara knew she could be awkward but she didn’t think she'd be this bad on her own. Kara was beginning to feel disheartened,

“I have been here for a couple of years. I actually only purchased this bar about six months ago from the previous owner.”

Kara looked at Lena, surprised, “Really? But I thought...you said this place was a dump. Why would you buy it?”

Lena polished off the rest of her wine with a small shrug, “It has character.”

Kara beamed at Lena, recognizing her own words being thrown back at her—and she didn’t mind it one bit. Maybe...just maybe she wasn't completely hopeless when it came to being social with other people, whether they were human or alien. “Well...I'm glad you decided to keep it open, um, I like this place.”

“Because it's a safe haven for you, right?”

Kara blushed, “You remember that?”

Lena studied Kara as she poured them both a glass of water, and gently pushed the second glass in Kara's direction. Pleased when the younger woman didn’t sneer at it, as she did their last meet, “I don't often forget things that pique my interest.”

“I usually don't interest anyone unless they know about—” Kara stopped talking immediately when she realized what she was about to say. _Everything I say or do is dangerous. It's always dangerous._ She stared at Lena wide-eyed, confusing the bar owner and then startling her when she immediately stood and nearly knocked over the entire table, “I'm—I'm sorry, Lena but I-I have to go.”

“Kara, wait—”

Kara was already gone, eyes low and not looking back. Lena swore and followed after the girl, despite the fact that her high heels and tight skirt were not meant for such vigorous movements but Kara was _fast_ and Lena didn’t want to have to wait another week to meet the girl again. Luckily Lena managed to catch up to Kara outside of the bar, near the parking lot. She found her standing next to her bike which was coincidentally parked next to Lena's. The bar owner approached the blonde slowly as if she were a cornered and frightened animal.

When she was close enough to be noticed, she spoke softly, “Kara?”

“I'm sorry for being so weird,” Kara looked up, eyes shining brightly under the single dull streetlamp in the parking lot and Lena's heart ached for her. She wanted nothing more than to comfort the poor girl but Lena was sure that the gesture wouldn't be appreciated at the moment, “I didn’t mean to be weird, I'm sorry.”

“Kara”

“Everyone I know tells me that I can't keep a secret to save my life and I thought that maybe they were wrong but they weren’t. I'm the one that's wrong and I almost told you a secret. My secret and now...now I'm making it worse by talking so much and I'm sorry, and I know I keep saying that. But I really am though. Sorry, I mean. Oh, Rao, Alex is going to kill me.” Kara wiped away a hot tear, and looked towards the sky to get her high strung emotions in check.

This woman was too adorable to be real and she was breaking Lena's slow beating heart. The brunette risked a few steps closer, “Kara, darling, it's—it's alright. We're all a little weird, this I promise you. So don't you ever apologize for being yourself ever again. Not to me, not to this Alex, _no one._ I don't know about this secret of yours, but it seems important but I won't ask about it because I don't care about it. We all have secrets, it's nothing to fret over certainly.”

Kara looked back at Lena gratefully, “Thank you, Lena. I should, um, I should go.”

“You left your helmet inside.” Lena held up a hand, halting everything that Kara was about to say and do, “I...I don't feel comfortable letting you ride this thing when you're so obviously distressed, and I would rather not let you out of my sight for a while, Kara.”

“What? I'm...Lena, I'm not suicidal!” Kara scoffed, “I'm just having a really bad night, I swear, I—”

“You have a lot of bad nights, Kara, I see more than most give me credit for. Is there anyone I can call for you?”

“Why do you care?” Kara wasn't angry or suspicious, she was genuinely curious. She and Lena weren’t drinking buddies, they weren’t friends—Kara was sure her partial weird emotional meltdown and running away like a bat out of hell ruined that chance. “You don't ever call cabs or friends for the other people in the bar.”

“Because I don't like any of them enough to personally care for them. That's what Mike is there for.”

That statement should've bothered Kara on a Supergirl level, but it didn’t. Some part of her sensed that Lena led a jaded life similar to her own. Owned to the fact that some truths had to be accepted. “You don't have to do that you know.”

Lena looked at Kara with confusion, “Do what?”

“Be nice to me. I have enough liars in my life, I don't need another one.”

Lena stopped short pacing and looked at Kara, meeting her shiny yet steely icy blue eyes with a glare of her own. A glare that was both studying Kara like a mid-term exam and looking through her walls like she had x-ray vision. Lena stepped further into Kara's personal space, her heels giving her an inch over her, “I don't have to do anything, Kara, and I damn sure do not offer pity fucks, friendships or pity anything. I'm not offering either of those to you. I've lived a very long, very hard life to know that, that sort of shit gets you nowhere but hurt. Worse off than both parties were before.” Lena backed off a little and sighed, “I would like nothing more than to get to know you better, Kara, but only if you want that too.”

“I've...never had,” Kara hesitated, pushing her hands into her pockets to avoid fidgeting, unable to hold Lena's stare anymore, “I've never really had my own friend before. I wouldn't know the first thing to do, Lena.”

Lena laughed. She actually laughed, not a belly wrenching laugh but a soft, ' _why are so adorable'_ type of laugh, “Then I guess the Gods deemed us worthy to finally meet each other, Kara. I don't have many friends in this age. I wouldn't know how to be your friend either, In fact, to be technical, you would be my first if you would be so kind?”

Kara searched Lena's face for any sign of deception and the woman kept her face as open as a book to let Kara find whatever she was looking for until she finally found it. The young hero stepped back and held out her hand to Lena, finally making a decision, “Kara Zor-El.” If Kara was going to make her first ever friend, she was going to do it with as much honesty as she possibly could and that was introducing herself. Her _true-self_.

Lena looked quite startled when Kara introduced herself, and she was unsure what to do with the unexpected and candid debut then decided that she'd simply return the favor, “Morgana Lena Pendragon, but please, just call me Lena.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara's PTSD is getting to the point where it's not fazing like it once was, which is never good. Getting the feeling that Lena knows more than she's letting on or is that just me? 
> 
> Buuuuuuutttt anyways...Kara's emotions are literally everywhere, I honestly do feel like if she was put in a social situation where it had nothing to do with work, or superhero stuff, or with anyone that she didn't know around her. And given the chance to actually make a friend or two...she'd freak tf out because she just didn't know how. Bullied all through school, outcast in college. Helllooo. Social issues. **cries for Kara** girl needs structure, good structure that has her best interest at heart and her best interest only.
> 
> Some updates might be longer because...hope y'all don't mind long winded chapters in the future!
> 
> Thanks for the comments and kudos'!


	4. Headed For Something

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It's been a couple of days since Kara and Lena became friends in the middle of the night in the parking lot of the unnamed dive bar that Lena owned for shits and giggles. That night Kara let Lena take her back into the bar to collect her things and pile her with a lot of water and toasted sandwiches which was the bar's only specialty until the brunette felt safe enough to let Kara out of her sight. In that amount of time, in what was beginning to become their little corner, Lena was able to get Kara to open up despite most it being nervous babble.

When Kara got home early that morning, she went straight to bed and for the first time in five months—she dreamed of nothing.

Throughout her busy week, between CatCo and her mild Supergirl duties, Kara and Lena have been texting each other nonstop and made plans to visit the National City zoo if nothing pressing came up for them. Kara was excited, not only was she going to have her first real outing with  _ her  _ friend, her friend and no one else's, she was also going to visit the zoo. She knew they opened a penguin exhibit two months ago and now she was finally able to go see them and hopefully play with one or two. They didn’t make plans to do anything after but Kara was hopeful.

Kara was currently zipping around her apartment, making sure that she had everything packed into her dark blue Jansport backpack. Lena insisted on coming to pick her up, and Kara was starting to suspect that Lena wasn't a big fan of her bike. Since the weather was warm with a little bit of a cool breeze, Kara settled on a pair of shorts, converse and a gray and white Nike hoodie she's been meaning to wear. It was different from her usual pastel colored clothing but Kara has been feeling the need to do a complete overhaul with her wardrobe lately. She'd taken to online shopping to avoid the crowds and since she knew her exact measurements down the the “T”.

Kara had packed another sandwich when her cell phone rang in the living room, she zoomed to it's location hoping that it was Lena but when she saw it was just Alex. She felt a little disappointed but then immediately felt bad for feeling that way and answered in the best cheerful voice she could.

“ _ Hey, kid. What are you doing?” _

Kara plopped down on her sofa with a loud sigh, “Sitting down, why? What's up Alex?”

“ _ Well it's Saturday and we were wondering if you wanted to come over and hang out with us today?” _

“ We? You mean you and Maggie?”  _ and be the third wheel, yeah no.  _ “Um...”

“ _ Yeah, we don't know what we really want to do yet but I know you've had a tough week. So what do you say, does movie and pizza sound like a good start?” _

Kara worried her bottom lip, she wanted to tell Alex no because she had her own plans for the day with her own friends...friend...but considering how well Alex took it the last time she said that, she didn’t think it would be a good idea. Kara hummed over the phone thoughtfully, and decided to just lie, “Sorry Alex, I-I can't. Um, Snapper gave me this last minute assignment that's due Monday morning.” okay, that wasn't a complete lie...he  _ did  _ give her a weekend assignment but Kara finished it last night.

There was a pause over the line and she could hear them talking but she couldn't hear what they were saying because Alex covered the mic with the palm of her hand,  _ “Alright, well um...”  _ another pause, and Kara wondered if Alex was trying to figure out if she believed her or not,  _ “Call if anything changes, okay? Haven’t really seen you all week.” _

“ Yeah, sure,” Kara looked up her ceiling, trying not to feel guilty about anything. She knew she shouldn't but it was a reflex feeling—that she was well aware of, “Have fun with Maggie, Alex. Talk to you later, sis.” Kara quickly hung up and inhaled and exhaled deeply. No sooner had she hung up, there was soft knock on her door—startling her. She turned around and checked and saw that it was Lena. She hadn’t heard her come up or anything, maybe she was just distracted with Alex and feeling guilty but those thoughts and feelings quickly went away as she dashed to door, grabbing her bag on the way, and opened it with a genuinely bright smile.

“ Hi Lena!”

Lena was dressed just as casually as she was, though she looked like was more prepared for the temperature to drop drastically more so than Kara was. Winter was coming after all. Kara peeked the grayish black Star Wars shirt beneath her brown leather jacket with the hood. Kara stored away that bit of information for later.

Lena smiled back at the blonde, willing to admit that her entire had passed at the pace of goddamn snail and she swore the Gods were laughing at her, but the torture of time was worth it. To see the sun shining in Kara's eyes, “Hello, darling. Are you ready to go?”

Kara lifted her backpack onto her shoulder and nodded, “Yeah sure, did you want anything before we go though? Water or cookies?”

Lena laughed softly, “No thank you, but it would it be too much trouble to use your bathroom?”

“ No, sure go ahead.” Kara stepped aside to let the older woman inside, subconsciously noting that Lena was once again wearing high heels and was taller, not that Kara minded—she just didn’t think they’d be comfortable to wear at the zoo. “It's all the way down the hallway to your right.”

“ Thank you, Kara.” Lena set her designer purse and phone on the kitchen counter and disappeared around the corner. When Lena came out, Kara was waiting (bouncing) by the front door, trying not to look too eager (failing miserably). She reminded Lena of a young mare that had too much energy and was moments away from going into overdrive of whatever current emotion that took over.

Lena grabbed her items, “Ready?”

“ Since Monday!” Kara said as she opened the door and practically rushed Lena through it so she could close and lock it.

Lena laughed, relieved that she wasn't the only watching the clock all week.

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Traffic was alright going down to the Zoo, but it was a Saturday and a four-day weekend. People were trying to go to the beach before it got too cold, too bad the only way to get to the Zoo was the same route to get to the beach.

“ So, how was your week Lena? Anything interesting happen at the bar?”

“ No, just your typical drunks. It was quite boring without you there, but you seemed to have had a busy week?”

Kara nodded, reclining her seat a little so she could stare up at the sky via sunroof, “Yeah, just so many deadlines and yelling there. Sometimes I just wanna quit.”

“ So why don't you?”

“ I don't know,” Kara shrugged, “It used to ground me but now...it's not doing much for me anymore.”

“ Except stressing you out.” Lena glanced at Kara, “I know stress when I see it, Kara, and you're stressed. Have you ever considered taking a break?”

Kara scoffed, “Take a break from CatCo? Yeah, I have. A lot.”

“ From everything, I meant but...I'm sensing a but with this CatCo job of yours? Is there something or someone keeping you there?” Lena's tone was curious enough but there was a hint of something else there, a little sharp but Kara didn’t think too much of it.

“ No. Well, not anymore.”

“ And you feel...sad about this? Do you regret it?”

Kara shifted her gaze from the clouds to the brunette, and studied her quietly until her silence stretched on too long and Lena chanced another look in her direction, eyebrow arched questioningly. Kara smiled ruefully, “I...I do have regrets but this is one I won't regret. It just wasn't meant to be.”

The finality in Kara's voice suggested that she didn’t want to talk about that particular subject too much and Lena, thankfully, got the hint and dropped it. For now. They sat in comfortable silence for a while as Lena maneuvered them through traffic easily, only just slightly speeding.

“ What did you do before buying the bar?”

“ I was a professor at Trinity college in Dublin for a couple of years before I decided I've had enough of that and began to travel.”

Kara stared at Lena in awe, “What did you teach, Lena? Just how old  _ are  _ you?”

“ I split my teachings between Psychology and Biochemistry, and I'm only thirty-four.” Lena looked just a tad bit smug, and Kara didn’t really hold it against her.

“ Why'd you quit? You're still so young, I bet you were just hitting your stride!”

“ I was but I was simply biding my time for something far more important than a tenure and repeating myself every year.”

“ Biding your time for what?”

“ Happiness that took centuries to find me.”

Kara raised her eyebrows at that, and at Lena's strange choice of words (she was starting to notice that Lena had a peculiar way of saying things, but she brushed it off often), “So buying a dive bar in National City was your first step? That doesn’t seem very...” Kara trailed off, unsure how to proceed with that thought without offending her new friend. But she didn’t need to have worried about that because Lena chuckled, and reached over the console to pat Kara's bare knee that was pressed against the gear shift, and creating goosebumps all over the blonde's thigh.

“ It's not the bar itself that attracted me to it, but the character it has. Or rather,” she looked at Kara meaningfully, “The character it brings to my attention.”

_ There she goes with the weird phrases again, _ but Kara didn’t comment on it, “So what do you do now?”

If Lena was bothered by Kara's continued curiosity she didn’t show it or she just simply didn’t mind it, “I'm a freelance consultant for select therapists throughout North America. Usually for therapists and psychotherapists since I'm very much qualified to do so.”

Kara's awe for Lena grew even more. She was clearly a businesswoman with a great head on her shoulders, beautiful and friendly (at least to Kara she was) and best of all, she wanted to be Kara's friend. The young hero was about to fire off another series of questions but she finally noticed that they were almost there and her attention skyrocketed elsewhere much to Lena's amusement.

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Lena and Kara had been walking the zoo for hours now, and even participated in two short tours. One for the reptiles because apparently Lena and Kara had a shared love for reptiles and the other tour was through the primate section. They also stopped at a few food vendors because the snacks and water Kara packed didn’t last long between the two of them (Kara especially, but she was starting to realize that Lena had quite the appetite—not Kryptonian level but Kara was still impressed). They were currently on their way to the penguin exhibit, walking shoulder to shoulder as they tried to read the ever confusing zoo map together. They got turned around more times than either of them would’ve liked to admit, and once ended up back at the entrance.

“ Are you sure we're going in the right direction? I think we've passed the turn.” Lena asked, twisting the map at an angle as if that would help their situation, “We're here by the lion exhibit...but...”

Kara couldn't help but laugh, here were two women with an intelligence only a select few humans possess—can't even read a zoo map that had pictures. She pulled her backpack around to pull out a new package of beef jerky when a familiar voice stopped her cold.

“ Kara? Kara, what the hell are you doing here?”

Lena frowned remained in place but it had nothing to do with trying to figure out how to get the penguins, but more so of the tone the approaching woman used towards Kara. Lena was close enough to Kara to feel her freeze up far too long to be mistaken for surprise, “Uh, Alex! Maggie, H-hey! What are you guys doing here? At the zoo? A public...place...” Kara trailed off, and fiddling with the zipper of her backpack and Lena had already decided that she did not like Alex or Maggie. Whichever they were.

Alex eyed Lena, then looked back at her little sister, “I asked you first. I thought you said Snapper gave you an assignment?”

“ I, um, I...” Kara sighed with defeat, shoulders sagging and Lena felt her eyes burning at the sight and she quickly reeled in her anger lest she give away more than she was ready to reveal. “Well, okay he did but I finished it yesterday. I just...”

“ Why did you lie to me, Kara? Since when did we start lying to each other?” while Alex was going on her tangent at her little sister, Maggie was quietly observing Lena and Kara and Lena took notice quickly.

“ Alex, I just wanted to hang out of with  _ my  _ friend today and I know how you can get about this kind of stuff.”

“ Damn right Kara, you just don't get how...reckless you can be!” Alex all but shouted, drawing attention from a few families walking around them and Lena had half a mind to knock Alex down a few pegs in the most unpleasant way possible but she kept a tight reign on her emotions because she could feel the distress rolling off of Kara in waves at an alarming rate. Before Lena could take the chance to step between the two women, Alex whirled around on Lena, “And just who the hell are you?”

Lena raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Alex's tone, and replied with a coolly, “Lena.”

“ Got a last name, Lena?” Alex was pissed that Kara ruined her date with Maggie with this when she simply could've just told her the truth. Alex was definitely going to call this in and run Lena through the DEO database, and debrief her sister  _ again _ about pulling stunts like this.

“ I do, but that's private information.”

Kara and Maggie looked at Lena with wide eyes, and Alex was stunned into temporary silence. Usually that tone and glare had senior DEO Agents crying at her feet, “Excuse me? I'm an FBI Agent and I think I have a right to know the stranger that has my little sister lying to her family for.”

_ Ah, so this one is her sister... _ , she had no idea how close Morgana was to the surface to protect what was hers. But the sorceress just smiled that perfect politician smile, purposely pissing Alex off even more, “And what if it's I that doesn’t wish to know you?” Lena's accent had grown thicker in her anger, and it made her seem even more intimidating than she already was.

Alex looked between Kara who was staring at Lena with a look of awe Alex has never seen before and felt uncomfortable witnessing and back to Lena who was still staring her down with that smile, but her eyes told another story. Alex was dominant by nature but even her gall couldn't stand up to this woman for long, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Alex broke eye contact and looked back at her girlfriend who just shrugged. Alex dropped her shoulders, sighing harshly. “I have to call Hank, Kara. You know this right?”

“ I know.”

“ C'mon, let's go. The sooner we get this done the better.”

Kara shifted closer to Lena and the brunette felt her inner-witch purr immediately, “Um, can't you do that by yourself?”

“ What?”

“ I mean...I don't technically work for, um, you guys...” Lena noticed that Kara's stutter was coming back and she was beginning to fidget with her fingers subconsciously. She wondered if any of them noticed that Kara took her hand, she was sure that Kara didn’t even notice. “So your problems aren’t my problems, technically.”

“ Damn, little Danvers.” Maggie chuckled under her breath, and crossed her arms. This was a battle she wasn't going to get in the middle of but she was secretly glad that Kara was standing up for herself. Alex meant well, but Maggie knew her girlfriend can take things a little too far. “Alex, c'mon. Pick your battles, alright? Let's go.”

Alex looked at Maggie, offended that her own girlfriend wasn't backing her up, “What?!”

“ I trust Kara's judgment, and if Lena can stand up to you...then she's alright in my book.”

Alex rolled her eyes, muttering a 'whatever'. She stormed off muttering under her breath, and Maggie just shook her head. She stepped up to Lena and held out her hand, “Maggie Sawyer, sorry about my girlfriend. She's a bit of a hothead, if you haven’t noticed.”

Lena shook Maggie's offered hand, she liked this one, “It's quite alright, but perhaps you should go calm her down before she scares the lions?”

Maggie snorted and left them too it, giving Kara two thumbs up over her shoulder and the Kryptonian’s face was flushed when she realized she had Lena's hand and dropped it like it was on fire. Lena missed the warmth and comfort but she let it be. They stood in front of the large display, in total awkward silence. Map long forgotten. Slowly, oh so slowly, Lena placed her hands on Kara's shoulders—pleased when she didn’t tense, and squeezed them meaningfully.

“ Kara?” nothing, so she tried again but this time she rubbed her shoulders gently, “Kara, can you please look at me?” when those glacial orbs finally look up, Lena didn’t speak until she was sure Kara wasn't going to give into whatever emotional tirade she was suffering through. And Lena could see that she was fighting the biggest ones; guilt and self-destruction..and she was losing. “Do you still want to go see the penguins, or get out of here and find better food?”

Kara took a shuddering breath and looked in the direction her sister disappeared too, but gentle fingers on her chin brought her attention back to Lena, and Kara was wondering why Lena was caring so much. She was a burden, she was always a burden when it came to her friends and family. It was just unavoidable. Hell Clark even knew before she was crash-landed on Earth for five freakin' minutes. She didn’t want to drag Lena into the mess that was her life—hell, Kara couldn't even sort it out herself.

“ Kara?”

“ If-If you wanna go, Lena, it's okay. I understand. I'll be able to find my way home on my own.”

Lena hummed, and shook her head, everything Kara said went in one ear and out the other, “I know you were looking forward to seeing the flightless birds, but I have a dozen take-out menus at my place and I have all of the  _ Happy Feet  _ movies.”

“ I...you want to keep hanging out? Really? But after my sister...I mean, are you sure?”

Lena smiled and stepped back, before she did something stupid. “I live thirty minutes from here, and from my understanding...you have the weekend off?”

Kara nodded, then frowned, she had the weekend off from CatCo. But Supergirl didn’t, and she didn’t have any clothes packed and she wasn't particularly excited to risk going home tonight. And risk running into Alex.

“ I have extra clothes that I don't even wear that should fit you. And if you need to go anywhere for an emergency or something, you may borrow one of my cars.” it was as if Lena had read her mind, “But that's only if you're comfortable with this. If you're not, Kara, please tell me so and I will take you home.”

“ No, no. I am. I just...no, trust me Lena. I'm okay, thank you.”

The older woman seemed satisfied with Kara's sincerity, and finally relaxed, “So, take out and animated penguin movies?”

“ Think we can stop by the grocery store and pick up some ice-cream and cookies?”

Lena smiled, showing her pearly whites, “Only if you promise to share that last bag of jerky.”

“ ...Deal.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is more Lena and Kara. Take out, more 'get to know each other' talk, and perhaps a trigger or two. But at least in this chapter, we get to know a little more about Lena...hope you liked it!
> 
> Now, off to finish another story's chapter and food!
> 
> C_S


	5. Food and Kindred Spirits

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Despite their trip to the zoo being cut short, and quite abruptly, Kara and Lena were determined to continue with their day without anymore distress. At least, Lena was determined to make sure Kara's day didn’t turn to complete shit after that rather embarrassing moment at the lion exhibit.

Their trip to the grocery store on the way to Lena's home turned out to be more than a quick stop for ice-cream and cookies. Lena was aware that Kara had an appetite but she wasn't aware of how ravenous the girl was. She was sure that Kara had gotten her fill of food at the zoo but apparently Lena needed to adjust her budget a little more to keep the girl fed. While Kara was determined to grab a handful of frozen junk food, and snacks that were sure to stop the heart of anyone who consumed them in the large quantities that Kara was surely planning to do. It was becoming quite clear to Lena that Kara had horrible eating habits. Nevermind the fact that the younger woman seemed to be in peak shape and then some, Lena knew Kara should still be eating healthier than she was.

But Lena was well aware that it wasn't yet her place to say anything to the blonde. Their friendship was still in it's early stages and Kara was more fragile than she would’ve thought. The sorceress didn’t want to scare the girl off so soon—or ever, really. So Lena quietly placed a few ingredients into their shared basket as they continued to browse the aisles of the supermarket. By the time they reached the checkout line, it almost seemed like they just finished grocery shopping for the next two weeks despite initially coming in for cookies and a tub of ice-cream.

Lena glanced at Kara as they worked together to fit the groceries in the trunk of Lena's car, “I suppose we can just throw something in the oven now, instead of ordering take-out. What do you think, Kara?”

Kara nodded, returning Lena's soft smile, “That works for me. I'm just starving, I'll eat just about whatever sometimes.”

“ I've gathered,” Lena chuckled when Kara's stomach rumbled loudly enough for them both to hear it this time, “Come on, let's go before your stomach gets out of control.”

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Kara was staring out of the window in awe as they pulled up to Lena's home. She knew Lena would have a nice place, considering the woman's previous profession and current one and owning a bar on top of all of that, Kara really shouldn't have been surprised. But she couldn't help but stare.

“ Wow, Lena. Your house is really nice!”

Though, Kara guessed that calling Lena's home a house was an insult since it was clearly a smaller version of a mansion. Lena was telling the truth when she said she only lived thirty minutes from the zoo, but Kara just didn’t expect a two story modern Victorian styled home just outside of the city limits. Lena's home sat on the edge of the forest, at the top of the crest. Lena had the perfect view of the beautiful forest that surrounded the city. At least the part that wasn't yet cut down.

Lena parked her car on the side of her house where the garage was located, “Thank you. You're the first person I've ever brought up here, so please excuse the mess. I'm a bit of a slob sometimes.”

Kara scoffed as she got out of the car, “Seriously, Lena? You've seen my apartment, your place can't be messier than that.”

Lena rolled her eyes in amusement as she got out of the car to help Kara with the groceries, “Let's agree to disagree darling, deal?”

“ Deal.” Kara nodded, following the older woman through the side door on the far side of the garage that led into a grand kitchen that Kara only saw in magazines and movies. She followed Lena's example and placed the arm full of groceries on the counter and began helping the brunette taking them out of the bags, “So um...are we eating or watching movies first?” Kara asked nervously, unsure what she was supposed to be doing in the other woman's private sanctuary once they finished unpacking all of the food they brought from the store.

Lena put away the ice-cream and milk before turning to her nervous guest with a relaxed smile, “We're going to do both, but would you like a tour first?”

“ I...yes, I would love a tour.”

Lena hesitated slightly before holding out her hand for Kara to take. The Kryptonian looked between Lena and her outstretched hand curiously for a full thirty seconds before finally slipping her hand into the brunette's and allowed Lena to guide her out of her grand kitchen.

_ Fifteen minutes later... _

“ And here is my bedroom.” Lena finished with a bright, almost jittery smile, “So what do you think? Cozy right?”

Kara nodded, eyes darting around Lena's bedroom curiously, taking in the pair of boots carelessly thrown by the closet door and the unmade bed, “I like it...”

“ I feel a 'but' coming on...?”

“ It's cozy but, nine bedrooms seems a little...lonely...especially all up here.” Kara edge carefully, fingers interlacing in front of her, trying not to offend her new friend. But Kara need not have worried about anything because Lena just laughed and wrapped her arm around Kara’s shoulders casually as she pulled the blonde further into her bedroom.

“ Well I can't help but agree to that, really. It does get lonely up here, but I have a feeling that you’ll change that in the near future. Am I wrong?”

Kara shrugged, looking up at Lena, “Depends on how well you feed me up here.”

Lena's smiled turned mischievous, “Trust me, Kara, you won't be disappointed. Now, I'm going to go downstairs and get dinner ready...feel free to raid my closet, and bathroom. Take your time, okay? We have all night.”

“ Uh, yeah, thank you,” Kara nodded, unsure of what else she was supposed to say. Lena squeezed her shoulder encouragingly before leaving Kara to her own devices in her closet, and soundly closing the bedroom door behind her. Kara swallowed and reached for her backpack to get her phone out but the lack of straps around her shoulders suddenly reminded her that she left her stuff in Lena's car. And the young hero wasn't in a hurry to go retrieve any of it. If National City really needed her, she'd hear it. Kara could hear Lena downstairs in the kitchen humming along to a tune playing from her radio she didn’t recognize, but it sounded classical and old. It was soothing and Kara liked it.

The young woman carefully thumbed her way through Lena's clothes, taking not that Lena seemed to love dark colors made from super soft material. Kara couldn't figure out what sort of material Lena's clothes were made from but she liked it. Finally, Kara made it to the dresser and opened the top drawer and found a pair of sweats, shorts and t-shirts that still had the tags on them and they were all her size. Not thinking too much on the coincidence of it all, considering that she and Lena were clearly nowhere near being the same size, Kara picked out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and made her way into Lena's bathroom.

By the time a freshly showered Kara made her way back downstairs (after getting turned around twice), Lena's home was warmer than it was before and the aroma of food being cooked in the oven and the young heroine was feeling more at ease than she did half an hour ago.

Kara stood at the edge of the kitchen, “Is there anything I can help you with, Lena?”

“ I'm just about done in fact, please have a seat,” Kara returned Lena's smile and eased her way into the barstool at the kitchen counter, eying the food that was laid out already but willing herself to wait until they started the movie at least. But just to tide herself over, Kara grabbed one of the two plates that was sitting out and piled on three slices of pizza, oblivious to Lena's smirk.

After setting a bottle of water down by Kara's plate, Lena then fixed herself a bowl of salad with a glass of wine and sat down next to Kara. Lena could eat just as much as Kara, but she also had a habit of watching the quality of the food she consumed rather than the quantity. Lena watched as Kara brought the pizza closer to her and snagged two more pieces without shame, “I take that I didn’t make the pizza too crispy. I wasn't sure how you like it, but I figured an extra five minutes would be okay for you?”

Kara nodded enthusiastically, and swallowed the mouthful of pizza before speaking, “Trust me Lena, I'd still eat it if it was burnt.” Kara glanced at Lena's salad, finally noticing and frowned, confused, “Salad?”

“ It's a thing you know. Try it sometime, it might taste better than it looks.”

Kara rolled her eyes and opened her bottled water, “I've had salads before....but they’re just boring. Not my favorite food on this particular planet.”

Lena's fork stopped mid-way to her mouth and she raised an eyebrow at her companion, who didn’t seem to realize what she just said but Lena heard her perfectly since she was sitting right next to her, “This  _ particular  _ planet, Kara? Have you been to other planets then?”

Kara nearly choked on her water, and Lena immediately began patting the Kryptonian on her back immediately. Kara was coughing entirely too much, much to her embarrassment to notice that Lena's pats stung a little and that the brunette had yet to break her hand against Kara's solid skin. When Lena was sure Kara was going to live, she settled for rubbing the spot she was patting and laughed softly, “Maybe next time, just drink it and don't inhale it?”

Kara's face was flushed, staring down at her pizza and the mess she made with the water, “I'm sorry, you just caught me off guard.”

Lena shook her head, dipping her head slightly to catch Kara's eye, “It's alright, it was my fault for not waiting...but I am still curious about that comment you made. What did you mean by this particular planet, Kara?”

“ I, um...I just...well,” Kara's jaw clenched and she seemed like she was ready to bolt, and she would have had Lena not scooted her barstool closer and wrapped her arm around Kara's shoulders for the second time.

“ It's alright Kara, you'll tell me when you're ready. I didn’t mean to pressure you, we can drop it if you like?”

Kara's visibly relaxed and Lena felt the tension leave the blonde's body beneath her arm, it was both amazing and concerning to witness, “I'm...I didn’t mean to be weird about it, Lena. It's just.... Alex, my sister? Yeah, she gets upset when I talk...about myself...there's...I'm just different and she really doesn’t like it when I tell other people how different I am.”

“ Despite it not being her secret to tell, exactly?” Lena hummed and set her fork down, “That doesn’t seem very fair.”

“ It's... Alex is just protective.” Kara's icy blue eyes met Lena's open and understanding green eyes, “I will tell you...just...not tonight, okay?”

Lena nodded, “Of course, Kara, I completely understand. We all have our secrets and we're still strangers. More or less...it will take time for us to build that trust with one another. But please, believe me when I tell you that I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

Kara's smile widened, and she just simply couldn't help herself. Despite the awkwardness due to their positions, Kara threw her arms around Lena and held the brunette close. “Me too, Lena. Thank you.”

I “What are friends for?” when they finally parted, their atmosphere was light and Lena decided to press her luck, “Though...I am curious about something else. About your sister, I mean?”

“ Yeah?”

“ Why do you both have two different last names?”

Kara took another bite of her pizza, not caring that it was a little soggy, “Oh...well...technically Danvers is my legal last name but I don't...okay, this is going to sound really pathetic so don't laugh okay?”

“ I don't think I could if I tried, darling. Tell me.”

“ Well, you're the only friend I've ever made on my own. Like ever.”

Lena stared at Kara, disbelieving, “I truly find that hard to believe. You're bright, intelligent and you clearly have a knack for adventure. Surely I can't be your only friend?”

Kara laughed briefly, and shook her head, “No, no...I mean, yeah I do have other friends. But they’re not  _ my  _ friends. I’ve always met my friends though my sister or my cousin. You're the only friend that I've made all on my own...”

“ Ah,” Lena nodded, finally understanding, “I see, well. I am honored, Kara, thank you...but it still does not answer my question.” Lena refilled her wine glass, and began to eat her salad once more.

“ Well, I wanted to introduce myself to you as myself. Not my adopted self. I wanna be Kara Zor-El not, Kara Danvers.”

“ Do you not like the Danvers, then?”

“ No! No, no, no...it's not like that at all. It's just...” Kara adjusted her glasses, trying to word her answers carefully, “I just want to be myself for once. With my adoptive family, all my life, they’ve always encouraged me to lie and to be something I never was...or ever would be.  _ Normal.”  _ Kara peeked at her friend and saw that Lena was looking at her quite intently, and understandingly, “I kind of wanted to see if I could do this all on my own but I think I'm sort of messing it up now, aren’t I?”

“ Not at all,” Lena reached over and wiped away a lone tear with her thumb and Kara blushed softly, “I think you're doing wonderfully.” Lena decided to give Kara a little bit of room to breath so she rose from her seat to go retrieve their cookies and ice-cream, not even bothering with bowls. She just grabbed two spoons, and quietly handed the other one to Kara, “You know...I have an adoptive sister too. We met in passing a very long time ago, and we just clicked. We bonded over disappointment, betrayal and broken hearts...” Lena opened the package of cookies, not looking to see if Kara was listening—she could feel the girl's eyes on her, “We became best friends. Thick as thieves. We traveled together and had dreams about meeting our soul-mates one day...”

Kara took note of Lena's pause, and reached out to touch the woman's forearm, “She's...she's not dead is she?”

Lena looked startled then amused and laughed lightly, “God, no. She's still alive and breathing down my neck about everything. Maybe one of these days you'll get to meet her.”

“ I'd like that, what's her name?”

“ Regina. And whatever you do, don't shorten it. That's a fast track to get on her bad side.”

Kara snorted, “Well, then we'd be even because you're already on my sister's bad side.”

Lena snorted unladylike as she shoved a cookie in her mouth, completely disregarding her salad she barely touched, “I was on her bad side before she even met me, Kara. But how about we move this into the theater room? I did promise you penguins today, didn’t I?”

Kara perked up noticeably, she's been dying to get settled in the theater room since Lena showed it to her earlier, “Yes, you did.”

“ And who am I to break a promise that grand?”

“ Not a very good host, that's who.” Kara giggled as she began collecting all the food she could carry without making a mess, Lena's Irish accent was making her feel warm on the inside and it was witching. She had no doubt in her mind that she could listen to Lena talk all day long, the woman just oozed charm and class—but Kara could see the sincerity in Lena's eyes when they talked. Lena took from Kara what Kara took from her, and gave back when needed. They were in the beginning stages of their friendship but Kara could tell that she and Lena were destined to become best friends.

The young hero kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to jinx her good fortune. She knew that there was something off with Lena, it was the way she talked...like she wasn't from this time but Kara was willing to wait out the truth. After all, Lena was waiting out hers. They both had secrets that would take time to share, but if it meant having something or someone Alex or anyone couldn't taint...Kara was on board.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of writers block, sorry! Enjoy! Also, I was gonna pull ONE character from another show. I'm pretty sure you all know who, but it's in the tags in case you don't, also not my best chapter. But hey, a chapter is a chapter!
> 
> Cheers!


	6. Scared of Lonely

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Kara sighed happily as she was able to  _ finally  _ send the last of her edits out and clock out on the time for the first time in three weeks. All Kara wanted to do was go home and go to sleep but there was a mandatory DEO briefing tonight and J'onn more or less demanded that  _ everyone  _ attend or else. Kara wasn't too sure what that 'or else' entailed but she was pretty sure she was still waiting on a pay check from the DEO. Not that Kara said that at all, she just confirmed through text to Alex that she'd be there.

Ever since their altercation at the zoo, things have been tense between Kara and Alex. Kara was doing everything in her power to avoid her sister, and making sure Alex  _ just missed her.  _ She knew that her older sister was starting to become frustrated with her (more than she already was) but Kara didn’t want Alex pushing for more information about Lena and ruining a good thing. Or at least a good thing in Kara's book—apparently she was the only one to think so. Alex brought everyone else in their small circle of friends about Kara's secret best friend in attempts to pressure her little sister into talking but Kara was holding strong to what she believed in.

_ Her business was her business. _

Or at least...she was trying to. It was a little hard when no one was willing to see Kara's side of things and were only interested in what was best for her—from their own perspectives. Kara thought giving Alex time to cool down was a great idea. But it's been three weeks and the older Danvers was still pressing the issue and the Kryptonian was tempted to just give Alex an inch (despite knowing Alex would take that inch and run with it) but Kara wouldn't betray Lena's trust so easily just to get her sister to talk to her again. Lena's friendship was too important to Kara. Alex would get over this. Eventually. Kara wasn't entirely sure—so she added it to her self-made list of stressors to work on. It was a long list, and it was only getting longer.

Between splitting her time between being Supergirl and working at CatCo, she's been keeping in touch with Lena daily. All of hours of the day, and occasionally Kara would crash at Lena's when staying at her own apartment in the middle of the city became too loud. Lena never asked how Kara got to her home so fast, or why she never heard Kara's motorcycle pull up. Lena never brought up Alex or any of the problems she actively knew about unless Kara did first, and Kara couldn't have been more grateful for such empathy.

With a heavy sigh, and just being relieved that it was Thursday and her week was almost over with. Kara headed towards her motorcycle, putting on her full faced helmet and tightening the straps around her shoulders. Instead of flying to the DEO, Kara decided to ride there in style and overall take her sweet time getting there. It was just a debriefing. She was hoping that by the time she arrived J'onn would’ve lost his patience waiting for her by then and started without her. Kara was even hoping for some big Supergirl emergency to get out of it but unfortunately, for her, the citizens of National City decided to troll her and be decent human beings for a change. Kara could have just channeled her inner Lena or Red-K version of herself and simply not show up, but she didn’t want to add more to Alex's ire towards her. Or anyone else's for that matter.

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Kara was thirty minutes late. It was one thing in her head, but a completely different story in real life. The Kryptonians face was flushed when she entered the conference room, but her face was clear of any emotions and she was thanking Rao over and over that J'onn couldn't read her mind. The young hero set her helmet on the table next to an empty chair and sat down as if she hadn’t just walked in beyond late, and  _ rode her motorcycle  _ instead of flying.

Kara knew that somewhere...someone was appreciating her level of pettiness. But that someone was not J'onn nor Alex. Winn looked at his friend with slight disappointment and was the first to look away and go back to his tablet. J'onn took the hint and continued on with the meeting. Kara could feel her sister burning a hole on the side of her head, and it took Kara everything she had not to look or fidget like she so desperately wanted to.

When the meeting was over, Kara grabbed her helmet and all but ran out of the conference room, but Alex caught up to her little sister easily and held onto her upper arm tightly. Though they both knew that Alex didn’t hold any real physical authority over Kara without using one of her kryptonite toys.

“ Can we talk?” Alex asked once everyone from the debriefing cleared the room and hallway. Alex looked tired and Kara could only hope that Alex was ready to respect her decisions regarding her personal life.

Kara simply nodded and eased herself from Alex's tight grip and walked back into the conference room. “So what's up Alex?”

Alex took a seat next to Kara and tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace but Kara welcomed the effort anyway. “How are you, kid?”

Kara wasn't expecting that question and the tension suddenly left her body with a breathless laugh and she fiddled with her glasses, “Um...busy! Between CatCo, Supergirl and...” Kara trailed off momentarily, stopping herself before she said Lena's name and sending Alex off in another tangent. For another three weeks. “Just...ya know, busy! Um, what about you?”

If Alex noticed the pause, she didn’t show it. The DEO Agent just nodded, “Been busy here too.”

There was an awkward pause between the two, and Kara twirled her thumbs beneath the table, “Oh...um, how's Maggie?”

“ She's...fine?” Kara raised an eyebrow at her sister, and Alex waved away her sisters silent concern, “We haven’t seen each other in a couple of days, but she's fine Kara. I promise.”

Kara nodded, still unconvinced but she didn’t push, “Okay, if you're sure Alex.”

“ I am. So, do you have any plans tonight?”

There was something about Alex's tone and abrupt conversation steering that had Kara's inner Cat Grant on high alert, “Why?”

Alex shrugged, pinning Kara with a look that the blonde couldn't easily discern, “Just asking, we haven’t hung out in a while and I miss you, that's all. The guys miss you too, Kara.”

“ I know, I miss you guys too but I've just been busy with being a superhero and CatCo!”

“ And Lena, too, right?”

There was another lull between them, tense this time. Kara broke eye contact, to stare at the table and she reached up to fiddle with her glasses that weren’t there. “Alex, that's not fair. She's my friend.”

“ I thought Winn and James were your friends? And me? I'm your sister, Kara! And you’ve been avoiding us all for three weeks over this woman. We're supposed to be family.”

“ We are family, Alex!” Kara cried, meeting her sister's gaze once again but she wasn't feeling as confident as she was ten minutes ago, “But Lena's my friend, and you guys want to take that away from me!”

“ I'm just trying to protect you, Kara!”

“ I don't need your protection, Alex! I can make it just fine on my own, and make my own decisions.”

Alex opened her mouth with a retort but quickly stopped herself as she got up to pace the length of the table and Kara didn’t know what to do, “Kara, please be smart about this, okay? You're horrible at keeping secrets, glasses and a bun don't really help.”

“ What? Alex—”

“ Maggie was able to figure it out in ten minutes, Kara. I'm sure this Lena woman already figured it out if you haven’t already told her.”

Kara tilted her head, brows furrowed deeply, “Maggie knows?”

Alex paused and looked at Kara, “Of course she knows, Kara, she's a Detective. Your disguise isn’t exactly...” Alex waved her hand, “I mean the leather jacket and jeans is a good change, but the glasses? Come on, sis.”

“ Alex. Maggie knows  _ my  _ secret?”

“ What? Kara, come on.” Alex chuckled, shaking her head, “Maggie is my girlfriend and I trust her.”

“ Your girlfriend of two months, Alex! I like Maggie Alex, I do, but don't you think that's  _ my  _ secret to tell?” Kara knew she was being too loud, but she couldn't help but feel angry and betrayed by Alex's lack of trust and security directed towards her but not at herself. Kara couldn't see the fairness of harassed about her personal life and Alex was passing it out like candy because she was  _ in love. _

“ Kara—”

Kara saw red as she rose out of her seat, not even registering that she knocked the chair back, “How is that fair Alex?!”

“ Kara—”

“ You've been treating me like shit for three weeks over this and you just told Maggie without asking my permission first?”

“ I didn’t tell her, Kara!”

“ But you didn’t deny it.”

It was Alex's turn to shuffle her feet, and shoved her hands in her pockets, “Well no, she caught me off guard, but—”

“ So much for  _ protecting _ me, Alex. I hope you at least got laid for bitching me out about something you apparently can't do yourself. Keep a secret.”

Alex was taken back by Kara's ire, she's never seen or heard Kara this venomous since...suddenly the DEO Agent took a closer look at the blonde in front of her. Searching for any traces of Red Kryptonite being in the heroines system. “Kara, look I'm sorry okay? But trust me when I tell you that Maggie is safe.”

“ I will if you trust me when I tell you that Lena is safe.”

“ No.”

Kara grabbed her helmet, exasperated and suddenly too tired to argue anymore. She moved out of Alex's reach when the Agent tried to stop her, “No! Alex! You can't just...you-you can't just hold these double standards and expect me to be okay with them anymore! You're stressing me out!”

Alex laughed, angry, “ _ I'm  _ stressing  _ you  _ out?! News flash, Zor-El, you’ve been stressing me out since day one!” Kara reared back as if she'd been slapped and Alex stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide and brimming with tears, “Oh god, no, Kara—”

But it was too late. Kara was gone. The conference door nearly torn off all four of it's hinges. Alex swore loudly and pushed over a chair, tugging at her hair in frustration before running out of the room after her sister but Alex knew by the time she got to the parking garage, Kara would be long gone.

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Kara knew crying and riding on two wheels was dangerous—and though she couldn't physically be hurt, she could hurt someone else. But the tears kept coming. Kara set everything down on her kitchen counter numbly and pulled out her journal. It was her personal journal where she wrote everything in multiple languages in case she lost it. She wrote her fears, stressors, ambitions, and dreams (the ones that didn’t wake up in the middle of night and keep her awake for the follow forty-eight hours). The journal was Lena's idea. And it was working so far. Kara has burned through four journals in three weeks but she kept them all stored at Lena's, in the guest room that was slowly starting to become  _ her  _ room.

Kara glanced at her phone that was peeking out beneath the flap of her backpack and she wondered if it would be okay to crash at Lena's for the weekend. With a heavy sigh, Kara set her pen down and went to use the bathroom. As she was washing her hands, her eyes were glued to something sitting on the edge of the sink. Before she could get any bright (or not so bright) ideas, the Kryptonian quickly exited her bathroom.

Kara stuffed a pair of jeans into her backpack and her phone charger and left again. This time, her destination was a her favorite dive bar. She needed to get out of her apartment and to get somewhere safe...or safe enough. It was still early, the sun was still out and the traffic in the city was heavy with people trying to go home and relax. Kara took advantage of the fact that she was on two wheels and made it to Lena's bar in record time. When she arrived however, Lena was standing in the parking lot in front of her car next to another woman. A woman who was also impeccably dressed, with long dark hair and red painted lips. As Kara parked her bike, both women stopped talking and turned to watch her intently. It was nerve-wracking but Kara managed not to drop her bike under their watchful gazes.

Lena walked over as Kara dismounted her bike and set her helmet down on the seat, “Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.”

Kara managed to smile, and returned Lena's hug though she was aware they were being watched very closely by the woman who still stood a few feet away. Kara desperately wanted to ask who she was exactly but she was going to wait for Lena to introduce them and not seem like a jealous friend. Which is exactly how she was feeling at that very moment. “All good things hopefully.”

“ Of course!” Unknowingly, Lena managed to ease Kara's worries when she took her hand and led her to the mysterious brunette, “Kara, please allow me to introduce you to my dear sister. Kara Zor-El, Regina Mills. Regina, Kara.”

“ Well, well, well.” Intense brown eyes held icy blue ones as Regina held out her hand, and Kara reached out to shake Regina's hand. Both women pleased at the others firm grip, “Nice to meet you, Ms. Zor-El. It's finally nice to put a face to the name.” Regina glanced at her sister briefly and Kara wondered what that was all about.

“ Uh, thank you. It's nice to meet you too, but please, just call me Kara.”

“ Of course.” Regina just smiled but it seemed more like a smirk than a smile to Kara, the brunette took a step back, and finally settled her gaze on Lena, “I'll be inside. Try not to be all day, peasants give me hives.”

Lena laughed softly, “Don't mind her, Kara, she takes a while to warm up to everyone. She usually never does but there is hope for you.”

Kara smiled nervously, glancing at the other woman's retreating back right before she disappeared into the bar, “Really? Because I really feel like she doesn’t like me.”

“ She likes you, trust me, she does.”

“ How do you know?”

Lena smiled, placing her hand on Kara's shoulders, “Aside from the fact that I would know my own sister? (Kara blushed) She offered to shake your hand.”

“ Isn't that just being polite? Shaking someone's hand when you meet them?”

“ With her? No...Regina has a Queen like mentality. Her shaking her your hand is a good sign, Kara, trust me alright?”

Kara still wasn't sure, she still thought Regina didn’t like her but she would take Lena's word for it. “Okay, um...so, are you closed? There's no one here.”

“ Yes, I closed the bar for the day. Regina is in town for the weekend, and I wanted to show her around the city.”

“ Oh!” Kara tried but she couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice, “I-I can go, yeah, I should go and just pick up some take out. Something tonight. Maybe a movie, yeah a movie sounds fun. Right?”

Lena began to rub Kara's upper arms in that comforting and calming way that Kara secretly loved, it made her arms tingle all the way down to the tips of her fingers—almost like magic, “You're never here this early, darling, whats wrong?”

Kara opened her mouth to brush off Lena's concern but looking into those viridescent eyes, she felt as if Lena could see into her soul. That Lena could hear her pain, feel her lies and taste her fears. Kara didn’t even know she was crying until Lena wiped away her tears and pulled her into another hug. It seemed that Kara was always crying around the older woman, but Lena never seemed to mind. “I'm sorry.”

Lena shook her head, and kissed the top of Kara's head lovingly, “It's okay, Kara, it's okay. Do you want to tell me about it now or later at hom—my house, sweetheart?” Lena almost bit her tongue for the near slip, and she just hoped Kara didn’t catch it. She didn’t want the poor girl running for hills.

Kara pulled away slightly, and shrugged. She was sure she looked a mess, because she felt like a mess, “I..I just didn’t wanna be alone tonight but I can go somewhere else. I really don't mind, Lena.” Kara didn’t know where she'd go that Alex wouldn't find her, maybe she'd sleep in her office again under the desk. It wasn't fun or roomy at all, but it worked for her cause.

“ Regina won't mind, despite her cold demeanor. She's quite curious about you, maybe you can help me convince her to move to National City?”

“ Really? Are you sure?”

“ I'm positive, Kara. You're my friend. I don't have many, if any at all. Regina is curious.”

Kara looked back at the bar thoughtfully, worrying her bottom lip for the third time and Lena resisted the urge to kiss that swollen lip and hug the Kryptonian again. Lena wanted to take Kara far away from National City but she knew that running from problems would never solve anything. It would only prolong them and that's the last thing Lena wanted for Kara. She wanted to know what spooked Kara enough to have her eyes looking hollow and pale, but she was willing to wait until Kara was ready to talk to her.

“ Okay.”

Lena smiled brightly, “Perfect, let's go inside and eat. Knowing my sister, she's probably made us some five star dive bar dish.”

Kara wrapped her arm around Lena's waist since the brunette was content to keep at least one arm around her shoulders, not that Kara minded at all. Lena's warmth and softness was comforting, it made Kara, National City's guardian angel, feel safe.

“ So...home, huh?”

Lena rolled her eyes and pushed the giggling Kryptonian away playfully, “Oh god, you caught that?!”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a very long time since I wrote Regina Mills content, gonna have to work on it. Lol, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Wrote it very quickly, so mistakes are my own! 
> 
> I know some of you guys are waiting for the TPE to happen, but that will take a short time. I don't want to rush them into anything in this fic. Well...not **that** at least...
> 
> Also that thing with Alex...it just pressed me so much that she didn't even try to deny the fact that Kara was SG to Maggie. Lol, I had to do it.
> 
> Kara is going through a lot of emotions right now. Also, I'm also thinking about bringing in another familiar face. I'm bringing her back, because I miss her so fucking much and I feel like she was legit always in Kara's corner. How does the ship, EvilLane sound? Or should I not just do that? Up to you, roommates!
> 
> #Lesbians#Everywhere
> 
> Goodnight, or Goodmorning, whichever!
> 
> C_S


	7. Let It Flow

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Kara was currently curled up on Lena's living room sofa watching _Family Guy_ with a giant suede royal blue duvet she swiped from the hallway closet. Kara was content and half asleep, tuning out the two sisters who were currently in the kitchen bickering over lasagna sauce. Kara was nervous around Regina at first...the shorter brunette was just as intense and intimidating as Lena. But eventually, on the third day, when Lena stepped out to get more groceries, Regina asked Kara to try her homemade apple cider and upon sensing Kara's genuine interest in the taste and process. Regina opened up more with the blonde. Just a tiny bit, but Kara suspected that Regina was like an onion. There were many layers of armor to peel back before she got a chance to peek at the real Regina Mills. The same went for Lena...and Kara, herself.

Aside from occasionally stepping out to run errands for her job at CatCo as guise to go be Supergirl for a couple of hours, Kara had been more or less camped out at Lena's place for the past couple of days with her sister, Regina, and no longer ashamed. Kara and Lena haven’t had a moment alone to talk about why Kara was holed up in the brunette's house but Kara was thankful that Regina didn’t give Lena a chance to poke and prod at Kara with dozens of questions after dozens of questions.

The Kryptonian could feel the intense and inquisitive gaze from the brunette, and with the way Lena had been hovering around Kara—the young hero knew that Lena wouldn't take no or a lame excuse for an answer when she finally got Kara alone. Not that Kara didn’t like the attention. She loved it. She was just worried it would all end just as quickly as it started once Lena realized how fucked up her new friend was. Once she realized that death and heartbreak followed her new friend like a shadow. That her new friend couldn't give her the world she imagined and never will. Winn and James realized that soon after Kara broke both of their hearts and their image of her. Kara was positive Lena wouldn't be any different. But Kara was determined to enjoy the bit of happiness the universe was so gracious enough to offer before the expiration date.

With thoughts heavy of despair and self doubt, Kara closed her eyes, unaware of a few stray tears hitting the dark gray pillow she was laying on.

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_Astra and J'onn were going toe to toe with fists and insults. J'onn was able to hold his own but Astra was more of a soldier than he was. He may have the memories to help him, but Astra has survived actual wars and has been in locked in close quarter combat with multiple species at a time._

_Disarming the Martian was almost too easy for her. Getting him down on his knees with a swift, but firm kick to back of both of his legs. Kara had broken the sound barrier as soon as soon as she could lock onto her Aunt's location._

_Kara didn’t care about anything else around her except the woman she was focused on saving. Kara knew that the DEO were going to take her Aunt back into custody and treat her far worse than they had before._

_And Kara knew her Aunt Astra wouldn't go without a fight._

_Almost like deja-vu, Kara saw her adoptive sister coming up behind her Aunt as Astra had J'onn defeated on his knees, preparing to give him a warriors death. Instead of stopping, Kara pushed harder until she rammed her body into Alex's just as the brunette was about to ram the sickeningly green sword into her Aunt's chest from behind._

_Supergirl felt every bone in Alex's body snapped painfully, break through skin and crumple between the impact of her bulletproof body and the concrete roof. Kara watched as Astra killed J'onn honorably, seemingly completely unfazed about the commotion behind her._

_Kara, wide eyed, blinked and looked at the body still crushed beneath her and only to find that there was nothing but concrete there. Startled, the young hero looked back at the scene before her but it was gone._

_Kara heard something behind her, a small gasp of horror, and turned to find a clone of herself hovering in mid-air several feet away. Staring at her in horror. No...not at her..._ **_through her._ **

_Kara pushed herself to her knees to turn and stop Alex and Hank...only to collapse again...it was too late._

" _Little one...”_

_She was always too fucking late._

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Kara was completely unaware of the unnaturally (at least for a Kryptonian) strong pair of arms around her, restraining her. Kara was unaware of the destroyed coffee table a few feet away, with magazines and remotes scattered all over the wood floor. Kara couldn't hear Regina singing a strange almost medieval tune in her ear while Lena kneeled in front of them while cupping both cheeks and trying to gently coax Kara out of her nightmare.

“Astra! Alex! **_No!_ ** _”,_ Kara's eyes snapped open. However instead of seeing those cool blue eyes she adored so much, Lena was staring into deep red hues full of hate and anger. Lena's reflexes were fast enough because the giant hole in her wall where her flat screen television once was would’ve been her head. Regina was startled but she refused to let go of the blonde until she was sure it was safe to do so. (vowing to have a lengthy chat with her sister and the company she decided to keep).

Kara finally closed her eyes and fell limp in Regina's arms and both sorceresses finally relaxed and Lena pulled Kara out of her sister's arms and hugged her close, sighing heavily, “Oh, Kara, darling, what is going on in that head of yours?”

Tense, uncertain silence filled the living room, with Regina staring between Lena and the blonde indecipherably before rising to her feet, and finally breaking the silence, “If we're not going to acknowledge the obvious, I need a drink. Or several.”

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When Kara came back from her dreamless sleep, a rare occurrence she relished, the house was quiet and the smell of freshly baked garlic bread and hot lasagna caught her attention almost immediately. The mounted TV was playing cartoons, the classic _Tom and Jerry_ but it was on mute, but Kara appreciated the gesture. It was homey. A pleasant thing to watch as she continued to lay there tucked beneath the duvet, limp and heavy. As hungry as she was, she was more content to just lay there and watch cartoons. It was rare time for Kara to choose contentment over hunger. But all the Kryptonian wanted to do was lay there, and nothing more.

Kara laid there in complete silence for five minutes before Lena came in wearing a pair of tights and a loose tank-top with her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, drawing Kara's intense blue eyes to linger all over the brunette's exposed pale skin. Lena was full in all of the right places, and Kara couldn't help but compare her own taller, and more muscular body to Lena's warm softness. But Kara sensed that Lena had a hidden strength that even she couldn't match, she just didn’t know what it was.

“Oh, you're finally awake sleepyhead!” Kara didn’t respond, she just watched as Lena reached down for the remote and turned off the TV. The Kryptonian was even more curious as her friend came closer, and gently eased the duvet from around Kara's until all of Kara's bare skin was exposed—and if the alien could get cold easily, she knew she'd be freezing by now. The blonde didn’t even try to stop Lena when she was pulled into sitting position and pushed back against the cushions gently.

“Lena? Is something wrong?”

“You've been asleep for hours, Kara, how are you feeling?” Lena's tone may have been on the side of neutral and virtually non threatening, Kara could see it in her eyes that Lena was concerned about something. Kara was immediately on alert.

“Something's wrong, isn’t it? Oh Rao, what did I miss? Or do?” icy blue eyes snapped up, wide, pupils blown instantly, “Shit...what did I do?”

Lena held up her hands on Kara's upper-arms when the blonde stood, and though she had to tilt her head just a bit to keep her eyes locked with the blondes, Lena remained calm despite Kara becoming a flight risk before she could ease the alien into their inevitable conversation.

“Sh,sh,ssh! Calm down, darling, everything is fine...”

Kara stared at her friend, held tilted to the left adorably, the crease between her eyebrows deepening and Lena wanted to kiss it away, “Are you sure? Because...you have that look Alex has when I do something really bad or stupid? And I get a bad feeling in my stomach just like I am now.”

“I assure you, honey, everything will be alright. Why don't you go upstairs to shower and wake up a little more. Then come back down and join me for dinner.” though she made it sound like a suggestion, Kara felt like the decision had already been made for her, and she couldn't bring it in herself to complain, not that she had anything to complain about in the first place.

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By the time Kara came back downstairs, freshly showered and more alert, Lena had already reheated the food and set the table. After the nightmare and energy Kara used earlier, Lena wasn't sure hungry the blonde would be when she reemerged from her master suite. So she just reheated everything and laid it all out on her dining room table.

Kara took notice that the table was only set for two tonight instead of the three she was growing used to, Lena noticed her looking as she set a fixed plate in front of her, “Regina will be back later, she wanted to have a night out in town to see if she really liked the city.”

“She didn’t...leave because of something I did, was it?” The young hero looked up at the brunette who was still leaning over her, pouring red wine into her glass.

“Well, I may or may not have asked her if you and I could have dinner tonight and maybe talk.”

“Talk about what?” Kara looked away, knowing exactly what Lena wanted to talk about but Kara wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready to say all that was on her mind, haunting her...nagging her....reminding her...it was bad enough she couldn't sleep because of it. Kara wasn't sure if she could handle the reality of it.

Lena didn’t reply immediately, but instead sank into the chair next to Kara's and began fixing her own healthy helping of pasta, salad and garlic bread. Lena took her first sip of wine, then turned to Kara, “About why you're hiding out at my house? Not that I don't mind. I love having you here as your company is more than welcomed but I know you're not just here for a sleepover.”

“I know, and I'm sorry for being such a needy friend—” the Kryptonian was about to push her plate away and leave, but Lena placed a hand on the alien's forearm, stopping her.

“Kara, I want you to stay. Stay for however long you need to, I don't care. I just need to know what's wrong so that I can help you work through this.”

“Help me through what, Lena? I'm fine! I just needed some time away from my life,” Kara laughed, though it even sounded fake to her own ears and it died away just as quickly as it started . And Lena's gaze never faltered, nor did she crack a smile to ease Kara's nerves, “Lena...please...I'm fine.” Kara looked away, hoping that the brunette didn’t catch the lie and uncertainty in her eyes. The Kryptonian didn’t want to chase Lena away with her baggage. Even though she was offering to help and she was a licensed shrink—Kara knew her type of baggage, stemming from another planet, would be enough to have Lena running for the hills. Just like everyone else.

“Kara,” she started softly, “Earlier...you were having a nightmare. Regina and I tried to wake you but you were stuck. And by the look on your face, darling, this isn’t the first time you’ve had this nightmare. Is it?”

“I didn’t...I didn’t do anything or say anything did I?”

Lena studied the heroine's profile minutely. Taking quick note of the ever present crease between her delicate eyebrows, the slight hunch of her tense shoulders, the worrying of her pink bottom lip until it was nearly raw. She felt the need to lie to Kara, to tell her that everything was fine and that it was all taken care of. But Lena couldn't. She wouldn't. She had a gnawing feeling the people in Kara's life have told her this enough already. Have made half assed promises only for them all to backfire and Kara get the blame for it. It was something she saw happen with Regina time and time again....and she had to piece back her sister for a very long time until Regina was able to get back on her feet, stronger and wiser than she was before.

Kara wasn't at rock bottom, but she was on the edge, and if Lena could help keep her from tumbling down the rabbit hole like Regina, she'd take all the risks she dared. And Lena realized a very long time ago—she'd destroy an entire timeline for Kara if she had to. And she has. There wasn't a mile in the universe that Lena wouldn't go for the blonde that invaded her life all those years ago.

“You called out for your sister...and someone by the name of Astra. Alex is your adoptive sister, but who is Astra?”

“Astra is... _was_ my Aunt. My mothers twin....but they’re both dead now. Unnecessarily so.”

Lena raised an eyebrow, drinking more of her wine and crossed her legs at the knee beneath the table, “I'm sorry about your mother, Kara.”

“Don't be...she made her choice,” the Kryptonian shrugged casually, and picked up another forkful of lasagna, “besides, it happened when I was child. I've grown used to her death.”

Lena wanted to challenge that statement, but she let it go and went for a different topic, though she was unsure of which issue that concerned her to bring up first without Kara bolting for the front door. “Did Alex have something to do with your Aunt Astra's death? Is that why you two have been at odds lately?”

“I thought you said you retired from being a shrink? Why are you giving me the third degree?”

“I'm giving you the third degree because I am your friend, Kara, and I don't want to see you self-destruct. I'm giving you the third degree because I care about you and I don't want you going through this alone.”

“But we barely met each other not too long ago, Lena,” Kara stared down at her foot, pushing the Half eaten lasagna around her plate, refusing to give into the hope bubbling at the pit of her stomach, “You don't have to feel obligated to do anything just because we're friends.”

Lena set down her glass of wine, and reached forward to grasp Kara's jaw gently and brought the Kryptonians eyes around to meet her own, and though Kara tried to resist, Lena wasn't having it. (And in hindsight, again, had Kara been paying any attention, she would have noticed that Lena was telling her everything without having to say a word). “Kara let me make this clear right here, right now before we continue with anything else. You know I've lived a very long, a very difficult life. My obligation to others has died a very long time ago, my need to feed into that feeling? It isn’t there anymore. So when I do something for someone, it's not out of obligation or pity, as I have also told you before, I do it because I _want_ to. You just have to want it.”

Kara shook her head, “That's what they all said, and where are they now? Gone. Everyone wants to help, but I'm far beyond help, Lena. And I...I'm just destined to be alone for the rest of my life, with this weight of the world on my shoulders.

Kara and Regina had a lot more in common than she initially thought, “If you think I'm going to allow you to gradually kill yourself. You're gravely mistaken, Kara Zor-El.” The tone of Lena's voice held so much conviction it shocked Kara into momentary silence.

Much to the sorceress's approval, Kara began to take a few more bites before another thought struck her, “It wasn't a dream was it?”

“What wasn't a dream?”

“I thought blowing up your TV was a dream, but it wasn't was it...I really blew up your TV didn’t I?”

“I wouldn't say you blew it up exactly,” Lena took another hearty sip from her wine, watching the blonde over the rim, “But yes, it wasn't a dream, darling.”

“Why aren’t you freaking out? Most people would be freaking out by now, and asking me a bunch of questions about...about everything...was Regina there? Oh Rao, is that why she isn’t here? Is she scared of me now?”

Lena shook her head quickly, “No, no, no. Regina wanted to give us some alone time to talk, Kara, she's not afraid of you. She's afraid _for_ you. And she's also convinced you're part puppy.” Lena smiled momentarily, before getting serious, “As for me freaking out, Kara, finding out that my friend is a little different is a bit of a relief. Makes for interesting times.” Lena winked, and Kara flushed lightly and smiled somewhat.

Kara knew she should've been more alarmed, Alex would want her to be. Alex would want Kara to call her immediately to 'fix it', to give Alex an excuse to not trust her more than she already didn’t. But Kara had long ago decided that she wanted Lena to know, (though she had a better delivery approach than melting the woman's TV, nearly missing Lena herself). Kara trusted the brunette because for one, it was her secret to keep and tell...and two, the Kryptonian finally picked up on the fact that Lena wasn't as 'human' as she looked either and didn’t make a point to hide from Kara, but she was vague enough to keep it from the forefront of her mind.

“So I guess you know that I'm Supergirl, then?” Lena has known for quite a while, but she just nodded and Kara exhaled loudly, “And...you're obviously okay with all of this.”

“No reason not to be.”

“Right...because you're not human either. Or Regina, right?” Kara didn’t really want to ask, but she felt it was only fair since they were both being so open and Lena seemed to be waiting for Kara to come to her own conclusions about her own secret judging by the glint in the older womans eyes.

“We're both human, yes, but Regina's secret and story is not for me to tell. You’ll have to ask her.”

Kara's blush came back, “Right, of course, sorry.”

“But as for myself, in this modern day and age, I'm called a witch. But the proper and more comfortable term I use is Sorceress.”

Icy blue eyes widened with awe and shock, “That explains a lot actually!”

“Yeah? Like what, exactly?”

“The old age, for one.” Kara grinned when Lena swatted her upper arm, taking note of the gentle sting this time and not minding one bit, “and the way you talk sometimes...like you're not from this world—” Kara stopped, and thought of her friend Barry and suddenly an idea hit her, “You're not from this universe are you!? You have to tell me everything! W-well not _everything_ if you don't want to, but I'll show you mine if you show me yours! Secrets I mean, not...ya know...unless...I mean...no, you know!”

Lena laughed loudly, glad that she finally got to see Kara's beaming smile, and the girls growing excitement was infectious and for a moment. (Regina might have been spot on with the part puppy theory) Lena allowed herself to stray from her initial plan of conversation if it meant chasing away Kara's gloomy cloud—even if it were just were for a few minutes to a few hours. And Lena finally felt herself relax even more, unaware that she was tense in the first place, when Kara began to eat with more gusto and cleaned her plate in seconds, immediately going for seconds.

Morgana had no idea what their future would hold, but She was willing to let everything flow naturally. Prepared to face the brunt of it all, if it meant keeping her easily excitable little dragon safe and happy.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks! And sorry for the wait!


	8. What Now?

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Kara knew she wouldn't be able to hide away at Lena's for much longer, that she'd be able to avoid the DEO, and her sister for much longer. Now that Kara understood that Lena's home was cloaked with heavy spells to keep it well hidden and make anyone or anything that came within two miles of her home, turn around or just simply go in a different direction without a second thought. Lena opened her home to Kara for however long she needed it but the Kryptonian still had a day job at CatCo, a day job she wasn't so sure she loved anymore—but it was a day job she knew she still needed to pay her bills and foot her expensive food bill.

That and she was starting to run out of clothes, and though Lena offered to conjure up some more—though Kara decided to leave the clothes she did pack for the weekend in the guest room, neatly folded in the drawers.

Even though Kara had a long drive back into the city, Lena refused to let her leave without eating a hearty breakfast. Regina cooked scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon and sausage and hash-browns, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Kara wasn't even sure if she could move after eating all of that food, Regina made enough to feed the entire top floor staff at CatCo.

Kara was wearing a fresh pair of tight denim jeans that hugged her slim, muscular figure perfectly—not a stitch out of place—and a dark blue v-neck, covered by her riding jacket. Topped off with her ankle high boots that suspiciously looked as if they had been polished at one point or another. The garage door was wide open and Kara was standing in the open space that Lena had generously given to Kara for her motorcycle.

(completely unnecessary in Kara's opinion)

The Kryptonian wasn't sure what happened to the sedan that used to be there, but now Kara had a space between Lena's SUV and Regina's all black Mercedes Benz. Kara was slipping on her gloves, her mind far away as she gazed over the forest, down towards National City. Trying to mentally prepare for the lecture and yelling she knew she was going to get from Alex, and probably Hank as well, and Snapper, and everyone else that she put on 'Do Not Disturb' for the past few days.

Kara was so focused on the people she'd undoubtedly pissed off, she didn’t hear anyone come up behind her until they cleared their throat. Kara turned, expecting to see Lena but to her surprise it was Regina standing there. Still in her gray silk pajamas and barefoot still, “Hi Regina, what's up?”

The former Queen seemed nervous for a moment, but the look disappeared just as quickly as it appeared and Kara blinked, unsure if that was just her imagination, “Here, you almost forgot this.”

Kara took her phone out of Regina's hand, smiling brightly, “I thought I had already packed this, thank you.”

Regina waved off her thanks, “I also put my number in there...in case you needed to talk or...something.”

“ Like hang out?”

“ And do what? Be the third wheel? No, I don't think so, puppy.” Regina scoffed, rolling her eyes just as Lena was entering the garage, with a small notebook in her hand. To the surprise of Kara, Regina reached out and squeezed her upper arm, “Take care of yourself, Ms. Zor-El. I don't want to hear bad news when I visit again, next week. And be safe on that death trap...please. I don't understand you blondes and your need to drive the worst vehicles mankind has to offer.” and in an instant, the Evil Queen was gone in a flourish of purple smoke that evaporated quickly without much of a fuss.

Kara blinked, “I don't think I'll ever get used to  _ that... _ or get her to call me Kara. Will I?”

Lena smiled at the blonde warmly, “You will. It took her a long time to call to stop calling Emma 'Ms. Swan' for the longest time. It's more of a habit than a defense mechanism now...well, mostly. For you it's just habit.”

“ Oh...the...poofing thing...do you do that too?”

Lena shook her head, making a face, “Not at all. It makes me nauseous. I prefer the old fashion way...walking away. Unless it's an emergency.”

“ Oh okay...makes sense I guess. Is that for me?”

Lena handed over the black leather notebook, watching as Kara carefully unraveled the string holding it closed, “I made this for you last night. It's a schedule of sorts when you fall into another depression bout.” Kara looked up sharply, mouth fixed to protest that she wasn't depressed but the openness and understanding in Lena's green eyes stopped her, and she looked back down at the white pages littered with Lena's elegant scrawl. She closed the journal and ran her fingertips over the peculiar Triskelion like symbol on the front, lips pressed into a tight line.

“ I...do I really need this though? I just get sad sometimes and I don't like to be alone, but—”

“ The night before, when you had your nightmare. Kara you were too drained to get up to feed yourself. You laid there thinking you were content but you weren’t. You were without direction because when depression hits you, whether it's mild or at it's worst....everything becomes a task. Including taking care of yourself properly.” Lena took a deep breath, wiping away the tear before it could really fall from Kara's right eye, “I'm not telling you this to humiliate you or make you feel worse, darling, you asked me for help...and given our unique situation, this is the best I can do for now until you give me permission to do more.”

“ T...thank you, Lena. I don't think anyone has ever taken the time to do something like this for me before. I mean...Jeremiah, Alex's father, made my glasses for me to help with my senses but...”

Lena lifted Kara's chin, “If it gets to be too much for you, come back to me, okay?”

“ But what if you're not here?”

“ I'll be here.”

“ How do I know? How do you?”

“ Because while you're busy being everyone else's hero, Kara Zor-El, I'll be busy being yours until you don't need me to be anymore.” Lena's playful smile fell away slightly, eyes drifting over the Kryptonian's shoulder and Kara turned to follow her gaze towards the city, “Are you going to see your... Alex?”

Kara shrugged, but there was something Lena said caught her attention, “No, probably not. I'm going straight to CatCo. Hey, Lena?”

“ Yes?”

“ What did you mean when you said 'until I give you permission to do more'? Are you going to try to be my therapist?” Kara wasn't sure if she'd be comfortable having Lena as her therapist, even she knew that was a Major conflict of interest, expired license or not,

Lena chuckled quietly, picking up Kara's helmet from the seat of her motorcycle, “That's a lengthy discussion we should have over dinner or a few drinks. But if you don't leave now, you're going to be late.”

Kara packed the notebook into her backpack and tightened the straps before taking her helmet, turning the heavy item this way and that. She stared down at her dark visor, looking into her own eyes. Its been a long last couple of days but she couldn't find it in herself to regret any second of it, she looked up to find Lena watching her intently eyes holding a yellowish tint, and Kara smiled.  _ No secrets _ ...she and Lena still had a lot to learn about each other, but Kara was positive that they were off to a good start. Alex and the others might not have had the same sentiment, but refused to focus on their negativity...or at least try not to.

“ I'll text you later?”

“ Sounds good. Drive safe, Kara.” Lena nodded, stepping back when Kara mounted her bike—she hated the thing but it brought Kara a moment of freedom and joy, so she kept her thoughts to herself. She'd bitch about the bike to Regina later—her sister owed her for all the bitching she's done, and still does, about Emma and her Plymouth Barracuda.

“ I don't need to be safe. Bullet proof skin, remember?” Lena raised an eyebrow, unamused and Kara sighed, “I'll be safe, I promise. No accidents.” with that she lowered her visor and started her bike. Thirty seconds later, and Lena was standing all alone in the garage listening to Kara ride downhill faster than necessary.

Regina appeared by her sister instantly, making it seem as if she never left the room, “You have it bad, don't you?”

Lena sighed heavily, and looked at the shorter brunette, “She's the one, Regina, I didn’t destroy seven time-lines for a booty-call.”

Regina's smirk slowly slipped away, her thoughts drifting to her own blonde that was waiting at home for her, “True Love...happiness...magic...”

“ It all comes with a price.” Lena finished quietly, “I finally found her.”

“ The fact that she's not chained to the wall in your dungeon is a testament in itself.”

Lena just shook her head, “She's not ready for that...”  _ yet. _

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Walking into CatCo wearing the tight, form fitting clothes Lena gave her, with her helmet tucked beneath her arm made Kara feel taller than she already was. Kara clutched the strap over her arm tightly, feeling as if everyone's eyes were on her. Whispering about her, despite her super hearing telling her otherwise. Despite that fact, a cold chill or two ran down Kara's spine by the time she reached her office in the little corner by the emergency stairwell. Kara had just managed to unpacked most of her bag, when the door damn near flew into the wall and Kara almost fried her intruder, but thankfully she wasn't so far out of it that she couldn't control her natural reflexes.

“ Oh! James...what's up? Is something wrong?”  _ is there a reason to enter my meager little office as if you own it? _ Was what Kara really wanted to say instead of forcing a smile on her face and acting as if everything was peachy-keen.

James smiled at Kara somewhat and closed the door behind him, leaning back against it with his arms folded over his broad chest and Kara could practically hear the fabric stretching over his muscles, idly wondering if he went a size smaller on purpose, “Uh...nah, not really. Just checking in with my best girl you know? After the whole Supergirl vs three alien brawl this weekend.”

Kara eased her way into her chair, trying not to let the suspicious feeling in the pit of her stomach take over, “Oh, well I'm fine. Still have my powers...I'm fine. Did Alex send you?”

James shook his head, taking Kara's seeming ease as an invitation to sit down in one of her guest chairs, completely missing the slight frown that crossed the blondes beautiful features before it was soothed away with another Sunny D smile.

“ No, I haven’t talked to Alex since game night Friday night...which was awesome by the way. Winn actually beat Alex at chess.”

Kara's eyebrow twitched slightly, “Oh, really? Wow. Winn never wins anything, and Alex never loses. Was he cheating?”

James laughed lightly, “Uh...I don't know, maybe if you were there we probably would’ve caught him long before then!” Jimmy rubbed his bald head, a nervous tick that Kara picked up on a while ago when he was about to say or do something irritating or stupid...or just irritatingly stupid, “So uh where were you this weekend, Kar? We missed you.”

Kara feigned ignorance, “Who missed me?”  _ the people who have been having the time of their lives without me? The people who have died behind my name? Them? Well too bad...because I miss them too. The dead ones at least. _

“ Hank, Winn, Alex, Maggie...me...” he cleared his throat when a minute too long stretched between them with Kara just blankly staring at him, “I mean...I know...we agreed to go our separate ways, but avoiding the issue Kara isn’t going to help anything or anyone.”

Kara counted to ten...twice...in her head before shaking her head, and opening the lid of her laptop, “James, I just needed to get away for the weekend. It had nothing to do with you.”  _ not really...not this time.  _ “It never has, never did, and it never will. I have my own shit to work through.”

Kara didn’t mean to say that or to sound so damn harsh but she felt anger crawling up her spine and beneath the pores of her skin that James Olsen had the nerve to try and make her feel guilty for not coming to game night and tried to make it seem as if  _ she  _ were the one avoiding  _ them  _ when it's been the other way around. Kara knew she wasn't hyped on Red-K, but the anger she felt was all too familiar—and though she never told anyone. The Red-K opened a door of emotions she could no longer close or control that well. She figured this was one of those times.

“ Kara—”

“ Mr. Olsen, don't you have a company to run?”

James stared at Kara for a split second longer, before placing a simply gray folder on her desk (one she didn't even notice before then) as he rose from the chair and walked to the door, “No...you do.”

That caught Kara's attention more than his dramatic exit, and she damn near tore the folder in half trying to get to it's contents. By the time Kara could comprehend and get over the shock of what the letter contained, James Olsen had already left the building.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> C_S


	9. Sandcastles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back! Oh and a tiny bit of angst in this chapter. Just a tiny bit.

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Kara was still in a state of shock and confusion by the time the work day at CatCo came to a end, _finally._ Judging by all of the employees running around CatCo like chickens with their heads cut off, James didn’t tell anyone else about his sudden resignation and transfer of power that Cat Grant bestowed upon him and dumped it on her former assistant. And Kara didn’t have the heart, or well the guts, to step up and tell everyone that she was their new boss. How the hell could she? She couldn't even manage her own life properly—how the hell was she supposed to manage a billion dollar empire?

The man had thought ahead of time and changed his number and deleted his emails and social media all together so that no one could reach him at all unless they had his new contact names and numbers—and that was a slap in the face for Kara.

She couldn't bear to think about the fact that James had probably changed all of his information a long time ago and told everyone else except for her. And her thoughts were plagued around the idea that everyone else had done the same. With the piercing headache that was threatening to split her head into two, Kara didn’t want to find out at the moment.

She stayed holed up in her office near the emergency stairwell and listened as the last of the employees from the editing department squeeze into one elevator and head home for the night. Leaving just herself, the security guards and the three custodians inside of the building. She set her tablet aside and picked up the gray folder once again and opened it with trembling hands. Praying to Rao or whatever god or goddess that was listening to her for once, for this all to be a joke. But it wasn't.

The words remained the same. James Olsen handed over CatCo to Kara Danvers and didn’t bother to leave an apology note. His signature was at the bottom...along with Cat Grant's. And Kara has worked with the woman long enough to know that it was fresh ink and that it wasn't forged. The Kryptonian set the folder aside and counted from ten...three times. She had been trying to to avoid the inevitable but there was only so long she could fend off Alex and Hank. James put Kara between a rock and a hard place.

With her responsibility as Supergirl, managing a multimedia multibillion company wasn't the ideal day job. Batman and the Green Arrow proved that much in Kara's opinion. She couldn't be Supergirl and CatCo's new CEO...she knew she was lucky flying under the radar, identity wise. The publicity of her civilian identity would mess it all up. She knew that, she didn’t need Alex and Hank to tell her that. James knew and he clearly didn’t care. And Cat knew...and Kara couldn't help but think that this was the way Cat plotted to get her last laugh. If she couldn't expose Supergirl, what better way to do it than get the Girl of Steel to do it herself and still be CatCo property.

 _No...no way..._ Cat wouldn't do that to her. Not after everything they’ve been through together...would she? Kara stared down at the gray folder again, tempted to open it and read over those cold, impersonal words again despite now being able to recite them by heart now. Her phone buzzing softly on top of her closed laptop drew her out of her particularly poisonous thoughts long enough to remember where she was and why.

She saw that it was Alex calling her, for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. And all weekend...and Kara hesitated before sliding her finger across the screen and placing the call on speaker, “Hello?”

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, whether it was because Alex was surprised that Kara finally picked up or Alex had to reel in _days_ worth of frustration, Kara couldn't really be sure. It may have been both for all she could guess.

“Kara...” the older Danvers squawked slightly, under her breath as if she wanted to say something but decided against doing so last minute, but Kara still heard her. “Are you busy right now?”

The Kryptonian eyed her desk, it wasn't as messy as it was the previous week when Snapper had piled a shit ton of assignments on her desk but Kara was still tempted to lie just a little bit. “No, I'm just finishing up at work. Why? Is Supergirl needed?”

They both knew that if Supergirl was needed, she would’ve been at the scene already. That or Alex would’ve been yelling at her to come help over the sounds of explosions and gunfire, “No, no...I just...ahem, I just got off work myself and I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat with me.” when Kara didn’t say anything for ten seconds, Alex sighed into the phone, “At the outdoor burger shack you love so much, just off—”

“I know where it is.” Kara interrupted, already packing her bag quietly as possibly, it was only twenty minutes from her favorite dive bar after all. Not that she would be taking Alex there anytime soon...if ever, or anyone else for that matter. That was her sanctuary, not theirs. She was positive that they had their own sanctuary without her. “Where's Maggie?”

“Working overtime. She has a new partner, Detective Romanoff or something like that...showing her the ropes of National City. So what do you say, kid? Burgers and shakes?”

Kara shrugged, she hadn’t eaten since lunch so she could do for some food. “Yeah, I'll be there in thirty minutes.” Kara pressed the 'end call' button and stuffed the phone into her pocket. She paused for a split second, then stuffed the gray folder into her backpack as well. Placing it neatly behind the leather journal that Lena had given her earlier this morning.

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Alex watched her little sister expertly maneuvered her Ducati into a tight parking spot, along with a few other patrons who were sitting outside on the patio of the burger shack just off the highway that led to National City's local beach. Kara had arrived just in time, because the waitress had only just brought their food out seconds before Alex's ears picked up on her sisters outrageously expensive bike.

Alex waited until Kara was sitting directly across from her to start dressing her burger while the Kryptonian got settled into her seat, “That's still your favorite right?”

Kara nodded eagerly, eying Alex's healthy burger before picking up her completely unhealthy, grease injected, impending heart attack excuse for a burger. Kara wasn't exactly sure on what she should be saying or not saying so she just opted for stuffing her mouth full of food versus trying to babble to fill the empty space and indirectly reveal everything that didn’t need to be told. It was an urge she was desperately trying to work on. Counting to ten usually worked but with the way Alex was eying her across the table, the way the brunette's shoulders were set and her urge for them to be damn near out of the city, and in public. Something was up, and Kara could feel it in her gut.

The blonde wiped her mouth with a napkin, half way done with her burger but her stomach was twisted so tight in knots that she felt as if she might just through it all back up—she couldn't force herself to eat anymore. “So, uh...what's up, Alex? How was your weekend?”

“It was fine, not a lot of work to do, so I mostly hung out with Maggie all weekend,” The lack of reaction should've had Kara running for the hills. Alex had blown up Kara's phone all weekend long with calls and texts, “How was yours?”

Kara's thoughts immediately went straight to lounging around Lena's home all weekend, except when she had to be Supergirl once or twice—and eating everything she and Regina cooked. And sharing secrets, “It was nice. I slept mostly. Um, thanks for asking.”

“Yeah, you're welcome, Kara.”

Kara hesitated briefly, feeling more awkward than she would’ve liked. She wondered why Alex wanted to meet in a public place when she clearly had so much to say to Kara. The blonde set her burger down, and wiped her hands on the napkin. She no longer had an appetite, and that was another rare occurrence that was starting to become a normal thing. “Small talk was never your strong suit.”

Alex scoffed, and gave her a look, “Well, I don't know what else you want me to say Kara. You don't seem to like talking to me like an adult, so small talk it is.”

Kara stared at her sister, jaw dropped slightly, “Alex—”

The DEO Agent shook her head, “It's okay Kara, I get it. You don't have to talk to me, I just wanted to see if you were okay with my own eyes.”

“Alex, seriously? What is this?” Kara lowered her tone when a few of the other patrons looked at them curiously, “Every time I want to talk to you, you always say the meanest things or—”

“And I'm sorry, Kara. I'm really sorry about saying that, and I shouldn't have. You're my family and you always will be, but you, also, have to grow up alright?” the older Danvers glanced around, and spoke to a near whisper, knowing that Kara would hear her just fine, “When you became Supergirl, _you_ did that all on your own. _You did._ That responsibility, that stress...you have to deal with that now, Kara. And running away to who knows where? Won't solve anything, _ever._ ”

“I...I know that, Alex, and I'm sorry for screening your calls and texts. But I just had to get away for a little while and—”

“We _all_ want to get away, Kara! But you aren’t five years old anymore!” Alex all but shouted, the tight hold on her frustration towards her sister snapping like a rubberband finally stretched to the limit, “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you this weekend?”

“I wasn't running away from my responsibilities Alex! I was running away from **_you_ **.” Kara grabbed her things quickly, mindful of every pair of eyes on the patio deck were on them, but she still moved fast enough to still be considered human. Kara left her sister sitting at the table and stuck her with the check.

By the time Kara mounted her bike and was fastening the straps beneath her chin, Alex caught up with her. “Kara—”

Kara opened her visor, ignoring the sound of the material cracking behind the force of her push, “No, Alex, don't apologize until you mean it okay? As you can see, I'm fine and my powers are still with me. So if there's nothing else, I have work in the morning.”

Alex pressed the killswitch, unbothered by her younger sister's glare. The older woman rubbed her face with both hands, “Kara...look, we both,” loud sigh, “We both have chips on our shoulders with each other that we need to hash out, alright? I just want my little sister back and I want things to be normal between us again. Don't you?”

“Yeah, Alex, I do...but I have things going on in my life that...” Kara rolled her eyes, and waved that thought away before she accidentally said too much and set Alex off again, “Before we can fix us, we have to fix ourselves first.”

“We can help each other, Kar...just let me in and help you.”

“It doesn’t concern you anymore.” Kara idly wondered if Lena and Regina were starting to rub off on her, or if she was just starting to become petty and treat Alex and the others the way they’ve been treating her lately. The Kryptonian figured it was a little bit of both.

“You're my little sister, anything or anyone that bothers you...concerns me!”

“No...it doesn’t. I have work in the morning, Alex. I'll try to call you later, okay?”

“Kara, what the fuck!?” Alex shouted, eyes brimming red with tears, neither of them caring about the amount of attention they were drawing and Kara in particular ignored the comment about 'lesbians'. “You're a fucking editor! You don't have to go to work until ten, I know your schedule remember? So drop the act, alright? I get it, I've been an asshole lately but don't shut me out. Please...don't shut me out. Kara I don't...I...just don't, please?” Alex tried to wipe away her tears but they just kept coming.

Kara shook her head, and started her bike again, “I'm so sorry, Alex.” Kara dropped her severely cracked visor, in hopes to hide her own tears and took off into traffic without a second thought (and giving everyone who were watching them a heart attack). Kara was gentle with her bike as she weaved in and out of traffic back to the city. If it were possible, at the speed she was going, there would have been a trail of fire and destroyed pavement in her trail. The Kryptonian blew past her favorite dive bar at an alarming speed, not even bothering to check to see if it was open yet—she'd be going there later.

Kara didn’t want Lena to see her in such a state. The woman was worried about her enough already, and Kara didn’t want to add to it. Instead the young hero went back to CatCo. The security guard at the front desk nodded at her once, not even blinking when Kara took Cat's elevator to the top floor. When Kara stepped out onto her floor, she was going to make a beeline for her own office until something else caught her eye. The TV's were on in Cat's office and the curtains from the balcony were blowing ever so slightly. Kara listened for any signs of a robbery (unlikely) but all she heard was a single heart beat, one that was all too familiar and her own skipped a beat. Out of excitement, resentment, and confusion.

She followed the sound through Cat's office, towards the open balcony doors and stopped at the entrance of the doorway. She stood stock still as hazel eyes took her in front head to toe, from her calve high boots, painted on black jeans, her shirt and jacket to the helmet held in her left hand and the backpack slung over her right shoulder.

“You're not going to be wearing pastels tomorrow are you?”

Kara continued to stare for a few more moments, but she made no attempt to move towards the older blonde or even allow any of her emotions take over, no matter how badly she wanted to rush to her and her hug her with all her might, human wise. “Are you here to take your job back?”

“No, I'm here to make sure you take it. I fired Olsen as soon as my stocks began to fail, and I'm here to make sure that my first pick doesn’t do the same.”

Kara took a small step back, “Wait—what? I was...you were going to ask _me_ to be the CEO?”

“Yes, initially. I was going to train you myself but I was talked out of it, and gave it to Olsen.” Cat downed the rest of her whiskey and pushed herself away from the balcony gracefully, “Lesson number one, Danvers... _never_ second guess yourself. Got it?”

“Zor-El.”

Cat raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

Kara swallowed thickly, wondering if what she was about to say would be a good idea at all. She was fairly sure she could babble her way out of it, but Cat had clearly heard her. And it wasn't like Kal-El was going around telling the press about his family heritage—he didn’t even know where to start. If he even knew to begin with.

Licking her suddenly dry lips, she stood a little taller, _I'm doing this for me._ “Zor-El. That's my real last name, Danvers is my adopted name that I've recently decided to renounce.”

Cat did a double take at her protege, a new light shining down on the girl standing before her. “I'm impressed.” and she was. Cat was absolutely positive something happened between the time she left, which wasn't very long ago, until now and she was damn curious but she knew when to push her former assistant and when to let it sit for a while. This was not a pushing time. The Queen of All Media snapped her fingers and indicated for Kara to turn around and go back inside, “Well, Kiera? We have work to do if you're going to impress the board! Chop chop!”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo James didn't quit, that fool got canned! 
> 
> Also, Alex and Kara...do not kill me! LOL, it honestly needs to be done because they are both carrying around so much shit, and harboring a lot of it towards each other. It's toxic right now, and well...we'll get back to them, soon, but not too soon. So don't give up on them just yet. Or do. lol, up to you.
> 
> And thank you all for your awesome comments and kudos! I cannot express how much I love hearing your thoughts, you're all so different and I love it. Everyone's opinion is always welcomed! Thanks, 
> 
> Cerberus.


	10. Media Princess Pt. 1

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“ Ms. Grant, I'm sorry but I don't think I can do this...any of this...I just,” heavy sigh, “I just...Rao, I can't. I'm sorry for wasting your time.”

Kara set aside the tablet she had been holding and 'reading' for the past forty-five minutes quietly, while sitting on Cat's plush white sofa. She combed both hands through her hair, rising from her seat. Kara couldn't find the courage to look over at Cat, who was sitting behind her desk, she could stand to see the look of disappointment in the older womans hazel eyes. Kara had enough disappointment in her life already and seeing it from her mentor of all people, would ruin Kara.

The Kryptonian set her backpack on her back and kept her head bowed as she bid the CEO goodnight, but stopped at the sound of he name just as she reached the door. Kara stopped, but she didn’t turn around.

“ Do you want to know why I wanted you to take my place here at CatCo, Kara?”

Kara allowed her eyes to roll close, to will away the throbbing headache that was coming on. Letting her head fall forward on the glass doors with a soft, yet solid thump, “No, not really.”

“ Tough, because you're going to listen...” there was movement behind her and Kara traced Cat's footsteps all the way to the woman's mini-bar, listening as the faint sounds of ice clinked against the glass, “When I first hired you I expected you to be like all of the other millennials that have sat in that chair, at that exact same desk.” Cat turned around, and took note that her protege still hadn’t turned around to look at her, “But you weren’t. You lied to me, yes, but you weren’t as normal and 'like everyone' else as you stated during your interview. You were different, from all of the rest.”

“ Because I'm an alien?” Kara mumbled against the door.

“ No, because you cared.” Cat sipped some of her whiskey, “Your dedication, your genuine nature...it was something CatCo needed, something I needed. A missing ingredient, I suppose. Your job was to cater to my every...impossible whim,” Cat rolled her eyes, and sat in Kara's previous seat on the sofa, “Yet, not only did you strive to meet my standards, you met CatCo's as well. You raised the bar in more ways than I would’ve thought possible, Kara. While everyone hates me—”

“ Ms. Grant—”

“ They  _ love  _ you. You know the names of the editing staff down the the three  _ FedEx  _ delivery drivers that come through here three or four times a week.”

“ Four.”

“ My point exactly. The moment I realized what treasure I had simply fetching my lattes and salads, and scheduling my therapy appointments every time my mother visited—I began giving you more tasks to see how well you would do with more responsibility.”

“ Is that why you started taking me along to your lunch and dinner meetings? And the board meetings?”

Cat nodded at Kara's back, “And the twenty-four hour business trips? Yes. And when you saved my company from a scandal concocted by my own board? Kara, I signed the papers to give you the reigns of CatCo that very night.”

“ But you threatened to have me fired for being Supergirl. Remember?”

“ I became a little too...ambitious. Though I should tell you now, the body double didn’t work. I don't know, nor do I care, how you pulled  _ that  _ stunt off but I never had any intentions of firing you. I was simply trying to force your hand, and it backfired. Lesson learned, moving on, okay?”

Kara sighed heavily, again, against the door. Her first instinct was to open her mouth and deny any sort of implications that Cat Grant was making about her and Supergirl in the same sentence, but Kara was simply getting tired of continuously lying to the people in her life who truly appreciated and cared for her, took the time to teach her—when the people who already knew her own secret  _ before  _ she fucking knew her own secret, couldn't even take the time to give her a chance to grow and be who she was meant to be. Kara could admit that she didn’t know who she was meant to be, but she knew her parents and her Aunt Astra wanted more of her. And for the first time, Kara wanted the same thing.

“ Ms. Grant...I just don't think I'm ready to take on CatCo by myself right now...I'm in a...place that's not good and...I really appreciate everything you’ve done and said on my behalf in the past few years but I can't accept this promotion.”

“ Kara, I will be with you every step of the way.” the CEO placed her glass on the table (on a coaster of course) and went to stand directly behind the younger blonde, “I will guide you through everything you need to know and do to keep CatCo on it's feet. You're the only one I would trust to CatCo, Kara.”

“ What about Adam or Carter?”

“ Carter is a future scientist, and Adam wants nothing to do with CatCo, or me for that matter—”

“ I'm sorr—”

“ Lesson number two,  _ stop  _ apologizing for things that aren’t your fault. The thing with Adam and I...it stems long before your time... _ arrival _ ...whatever.”

“ Ms. Grant, I still don't understand why you think that I'm the right person for this... _ this!”  _ Kara finally turned around to face her mentor, and Cat was startled to see that the blonde had been crying and she couldn't resist reaching up with both hands and wiping some of them away. Marveling at how Kara's skin could be bulletproof and soft at the same damn time, “I can't be you...the Queen of All Media.”

“ Then don't be, Kara, I'm not asking you to be me anyway.”

“ Then who are you asking me to be? Because I don't know if I can be another person.”

“ Be you Kara,” the CEO pulled the taller woman down for a hug, holding the back of Kara's head when the young alien buried her face in the crook of her neck and wrapped her strong arms around Cat's petite frame. Though she should've been worried being in the embrace of an emotional super-strong alien, Cat was more worried about Kara's mindset. While the Kryptonian tried desperately to pull herself together in her arms, the older woman was improvising her plans for CatCo and Kara and herself.

When Kara was finally able and willing to pull away, her face was flushed with embarrassment or just from the simple act of crying, Cat figured it was both but she finally relented and took a small step back, “Take the next seventy-two hours off, and when you come back here Thursday and tell me that you still don't want to do this, I will let it go. And I won't hold it against you. Deal?”

Kara nodded, “Deal.”

“ The clock is ticking Supergirl.”

Kara rolled her eyes, and left the office in a hurry with Cat cackling at her retreating back and Kara felt brave enough to take Cat's elevator back down to the first floor. Cat shook her head as she went back to refill her glass and sit behind her desk, reviewing Kara's resume once more, “Media Princess. The daughter I never had, but always wanted. Kara Zor-El , you are one of a kind.”

Down on the first floor, already mounted on her bike. Kara paused momentarily, eyes drawn up towards the top floor of CatCo, her eyes staring through tons of concrete and steel, and she smiled a watery smile, “Goodnight, Ms. Grant.” with that, she made a u-turn and headed towards her favorite place in the city. Passing a growling candy red Plymouth Barracuda on her way.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but insanely meaningful chapter. And yeap! I went there with SuperCat. I just can't seem to find a fic where there's this form of SuperCat *cries* anyways, I'm making a support system for Kara. All aspects where she needs it, cause idk about y'all but Eliza Danvers will never be apart of it, like ever...I just don't like that woman's vibe. It's so cold, and idk if it's from lack of screen time but, uh, wow, no.
> 
> Next chapter is Kara's three day vacay, with you know who! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Cerberus.


	11. shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Supergirl.
> 
> So hey, if you're following Sledgehammer, It's not on hiatus. I've just been playing the shit out of Mass Effect Andromeda and been a little tied up but the update will be out no later than Monday night!

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Kara was sitting at a red light when the same candy red Plymouth Barracuda that she cut off a quarter mile back, pulled up next to her. The blonde was very much aware of how irritated the driver in the Barracuda was and was determined to ignore said irritated human—but the irritated human was not going to be ignored.

The engine next to her revved loudly several times, challenging her to race and while Kara was sure she could win, having the advantage of two wheels, she didn’t want to encourage bad behavior least of all with Alex having ways of finding out about it. The light finally turned green and Kara took off at normal speed, hoping the driver next to her got the hint and left her alone, but instead the red muscle car keep pace right next to her, and was holding up traffic. At the next red light, they were both sitting in the middle of the four lane street, at the front of the line. Kara looked over at the muscle car curiously, and almost immediately the powerful machine growled back at her—taunting her. The Kryptonian rolled her eyes behind her dark visor, annoyed,  _ fine. You want a race? You got it, loser. _

The blonde fastened the backpack clip around her midsection and revved her own engine several times. Above the sounds of evening rush hour and traffic, trouble was heard several blocks away. Kara knew what she was about to do was a horrible idea. That she would be encouraging the very petty crime she aimed to stopped on occasion. Kara was about to stop riling up the other driver, her own guilty thoughts shadowing her mind—but the light turned green, she released the clutched just as two rear tires to her right screamed and burned against the pavement.

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Kara knew she messed up three unchecked red lights back, and when followed the speeding muscle car onto the National City highway. The blonde tucked herself closer to her bike, chest pressed against the gas tank and her knees pulled in tight. She was in fourth gear and pushing two hundred and fifty eight miles and she used the shoulder and her two wheel advantage to bypass the muscle car when they had to brake because of an eighteen wheeler changing lanes.

The Ducati beneath her was screaming in excitement and Kara's heart was racing right along with it, though she knew she was breaking the law—and that logically, Supergirl would’ve show up by now to stop them, she just couldn't find it in herself to care. This wasn't the first time she's pushed her bike to the brink of literally flying but it was the first time she's ever had someone to share the adrenaline rush with. Who understood speed and control. The driver of the Plymouth had a foul mouth, but they were having just as much fun as she was. Kara found a new form of flying and while it would never compare to soaring through the clouds—it was close, and it was addicting as hell.

The young hero could feel the heat of the Plymouth's engine on her tail, and so she cut the lights of her bike, going ninja, and kicked it into six gear. Kara was going a skin peeling, break neck speed of three hundred miles an hour when she passed the trooper parked on an exit. Supergirl chanced a glance behind her and saw that the Plymouth was still in the race despite the lights and sirens behind them. Kara was tempted to just do the right thing and pull over, but thoughts of calling Alex to come bail her out was  _ not  _ an option. And Kara could not, and would not, deal with the disappointment from either Lena or Cat. So she focused on the blurring road ahead of her, and got the hell out of dodge. She took a quick exit, a high bridge that turned back around into National City and the curve was steep but Kara was going entirely too fast, and already entering the curve, to even think about downshifting to slow down. The fabric of her jeans was already burned away, leaving just the bare skin of her knee scraping oh so slightly against the ground and had she been remotely human, Kara's bone would had been broken and showing by now.

Had she been human, her strength would’ve folded and she would’ve lost control of the bike long before she reached the end of the curve. She could see the Plymouth in her side mirror, drifting it's way through the bridges bender easily. Kara broke into oncoming traffic like a bat of hell, and began weaving like it was nothing. Going through alleys and markets. And when she checked her rear view mirror again, the Plymouth and the trooper were nowhere in sight, but she could still hear them somewhere behind her.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Maggie had just gotten back into her unmarked SUV with a cup full of coffee when the radio crackled to life,  _ “All units be alert,a bright green Ducati Panigale and a Red Barracuda are suspects in illegal racing and are still at large. All units be alert.” _

Maggie stared down at her coffee with a slight frown,  _ a green Ducati?  _ The Detective knew that there were  _ thousands  _ of green motorcycles in the city  _ but a Ducati Panigale _ ? Maggie knew only one person who had one in the city but she refused to believe it—not until she had more proof.

“ What's on your mind partner?”

Maggie looked at the redhead in the driver's seat who was staring back at her curious and unreadable at the same time, “It's nothing, just thinking about my girlfriend and her sister.”

The redhead raised a brow, the corners of her lips twitching oh so slightly, “Interesting, wanna share with the class?”

“ You wanna tell me what the S.H.I.E.L.D division? Because I've Googled the shit out of it, and all I've gotten back was Jack shit.”

Maggie's partner laughed, and shook her head, “I told you, Sawyer, it's a military program that reprograms KGB Russian assassins for the greater good.”

“ Are you going to give me the same bullshit answer every time I bring it up, Romanov?”

“ You seem to like hearing it. So yes.” The other Detective simply smiled, but offered no further response.

Maggie allowed the silence to stretch ten minutes into their patrol before speaking again, “Okay, the ninja moves are convincing but karate classes and kickboxing. Easy.”

“ If you say so, partner.”

Maggie snorted, sipping her coffee, eyes darting around through the window, “Alright, Red, tell me something...if you were such a hot shot Agent, what the fuck are you doing driving a undercover police truck?”

“ My wife needed me more than this country, and I would pick her every time.” Natasha tore her eyes from the road briefly to meet Maggie's dark brown ones, and the senior Detective could not only see the seriousness in those green eyes but she could  _ feel  _ it.

“ Will I ever get to meet the Mrs?”

“ Hm...” Natasha thought about her wife that she was texting periodically through the night. She couldn't help herself but worry about Maria being stuck in a wheelchair without her around, fending for herself. But the redhead knew better, she knew Maria still had her 'one shot, three kill' killer aim, that she could still kick ass despite being paralyzed from the waist down. Natasha had no intentions of getting a job but Maria insisted that she get out of the house for a bit, lest she go crazy and drag Maria down with her. “Some day soon, but not too soon.”

“ Fair enough...make a right up here, Romanov. Something I gotta check first.”

The Jr Detective did as instructed and noted how attentive her senior partner became when they turned onto the street, noticing how her eyes were trained on one building in particular, and then zoom in a empty parking spot and swear under her breath, almost too low for Natasha to hear.

“ Something up, Sawyer?”

Maggie pulled out her cell phone, hesitating for a moment then putting it back in her pocket, “Nah, it's nothing. Keep going, and keep your eyes open for red and green. Green especially.”

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Kara's heart was still racing, and her hairs were still raised with excitement by the time she reached her favorite dive bar. What the young hero did not expect was to see the familiar red Plymouth parked between Regina's black Mercedes and Lena white SUV, and a blonde sitting half on, half off the Plymouth's hood with her head bowed slightly while Regina fussed in her face. Kara couldn't even focus on what was being said and the who's the how's and the why's because as soon as she parked her bike, Lena was suddenly right there next to her with her arms folded across her chest.

And the look of anger and disappointment from Lena was nothing compared to how Kara imagined it would be, and she could feel her adrenaline being stripped away from her like a band-aid that's been on for far too long.

“ H-hi Lena, what—”

“ Kara, what the  **hell** were you  _ thinking?!  _ Have you heard the news, or seen it? They are looking for both of you right now!”

Kara's eyes widened comically, “We were on the news?! Rao, I didn’t think it was that bad! I swear!”

“ The footage was grainy and raw at best, but the descriptions were accurate. God, Kara! Do you know how reckless you looked out there?!” Lena bit back her temper just a bit when she saw Kara flinch away from her momentarily and the brunette sighed harshly, “Kara you could've gotten hurt or killed yourself!”

“ Not really.” Kara mumbled like a child, unable to resist, cheeks burning.

Lena's eyes narrowed, “No, not this time but the people around you? They could have.”

Kara didn’t think about it like that. She was so selfishly thoughtful of her own fun and her own consequences for her juvenile fun, that she never stopped to think about the consequences that her juvenile fun could cost another person, another family. The Kryptonian watched as Lena reached over and killed the engine to her bike and take the helmet from her limp hands.

“ Kara, look at me...are you okay? Really?”

“ I'm...well...” Kara pursed her lips and dismounted her bike, “I was actually on my way here originally before...that,” Kara glanced in Emma and Regina's direction briefly, “I kind of have something to talk to you about. And to ask you.”

Lena looked at Kara curiously, then looked over her shoulder at her sister and sister in law. Seeing that the two were rather engaged in their...discussion. Lena turned back around to the blonde, and took her hand in her own gently, “Alright, darling...let's go inside.”

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Kara sighed deeply, turning the glass around full of water between her fingers as she and Lena sat at the familiar table near the back of the building. Lena leaned back in her chair comfortably, sipping her wine as she waited for the alien sitting across from her sort through her thoughts and broach the topic when she felt ready.

“ It feels like it's been a long time since I've been in this place...I've missed it.”

“ Aside from your...street race with Emma—”

“ I raced  _ Emma _ ?  _ The  _ Emma? Emma Swan? Regina's Emma? The irritating blonde, Emma?”

Lena laughed and set her wine glass down on the table to refill it moderately, “Yes, the irritating blonde Emma Swan. Though it's not a surprise you two met the way you did...and I'm sure when Regina is finished with Emma out in the parking lot, you're next on her list.”

Kara looked over her shoulder minutely, worried that Regina would be standing right behind her but all she saw was the drunk patrons that were more or less regulars in the dive bar just outside of the city. The Kryptonian faced the brunette across the table again, “Really?”

“ Knowing Regina? Really.”

“ And what about you? Are you planning on fussing at me too? Like Regina is to Emma?”

“ Not exactly.” Lena's eyes twinkled mysteriously, “So, how was your day Kara?”

Kara exhaled deeply, and the slight shake did not go unnoticed by the sorceress but she kept quiet about it, still willing to let Kara tell her what she was ready to tell her despite the nagging feeling to grill Kara with tons of question, or even just tapping into the girl's mind for a peak.

“ Well, you remember James Olsen, right? The guy who used to be my friend, and had a crush on me?”

“ The same James Olsen that your boss picked to take her place while she left for an indefinite amount of time? Yes, of course. What about him? Is he dead?”

Kara snorted and shook her head quickly, “No, no, no...it's not that...he, okay...just listen, okay?” when Lena nodded for her to continue, Kara did with gusto. Spending the upcoming twenty-five minutes telling Lena everything from the moment she left her house early this morning until Kara concluded the story to the moment she cut off Emma, and they began a reckless street race.

“ So...not only did Cat Grant fire him, and that she's back yet again...” Kara didn’t understand Lena's frown, but she didn’t ask, yet, “But you're choosing to remain the CEO of CatCo?”

“ Well, no...I mean yes, wait, shit...I have three days to make my decision, but I don't even know what I should be basing my decision on in the first place...I really don't know what to do, and I don't want to talk to Alex right now. I came to you because I trust you...and I need help, Lena. I don't know what to fucking do anymore!” Kara combed her free hand through her already messy hair and Lena could feel her pain, and confusion rolling off her body in waves—and a solution was forming in her mind already.

Lena looked ready to say something else until a look of annoyance passed over her features, and her eyes flashed golden for a brief moment, “We can talk later, sweetheart, we have company.”

Kara had failed to notice two other people join their little table meeting until Emma patted Kara on the back, solidly, and Kara was more than surprised to find that it stung. A lot. “So...you're the little shit that cut me off?”

“ Emma!” Regina kicked the blonde under the table, but the woman with the red leather jacket barely reacted, keeping her eyes locked with Kara's and the alien could see that Emma's pupils were contracted more than they should've been, and she was curious; but not curious enough to out right ask.

Emma held out of her hand that wasn't still glued to Kara's back, and smiled, “Name's Emma Swan. Nice to finally meet the woman who—” Regina kicked Emma under the table again, but this time the blonde felt it and actually winced in pain, while Lena just glared at her over the rim of her glass, “Hi.”

Kara looked between Regina and Emma, confused, then shook Emma's hand tentatively, “Kara Zor-El.”

“ Zor-El? Sounds alien.”

Kara's eyes snapped to Regina in disbelief, “You told her?!”

“ No, but you just did.” Emma laughed and Lena resisted the urge to make the blonde disappear back to wherever she came from, willing to face the ire of her sister but she kept her irritation in check for the time being.

“ Wh—but I don't...what?”

“ On the bridge, kid, when you were turning...your knee. It touched the ground...if you were human you would’ve lost your entire leg...and with the whole superhero shit goin' on around here. Figured you weren’t from around here. Earth I mean. You from this galaxy?”

Regina mumbled something under her breath and signaled for Mike, the bartender, to bring something to their table—something  _ strong. _

“ I...I...” Kara looked to Lena for help, unsure what to do with Emma but the brunette was too busy trying to conjure up her own heat vision directed right at Emma Swan, not the the older blonde was paying her sister in law or her wife any mind at all, “I'm from the milky way, yeah.”

“ Damn.”

“ Damn? Why damn?”

“ I was hoping you could help me play Andromeda...I hate scanning shit all the time, and I need someone who's fluent in glyphs.”

Kara had never felt so confused in her life, “Andromeda? I...what is that?”

Emma grinned, and patted Kara's back once more, gentler this time (though it still hurt), “I'm guessing they didn’t have Reapers in your neck of the woods, huh?”

“ No, but  we had a murderous AI.”

Emma laughed, loud and amused, “Close enough, kid, welcome to the family! So tell me, what kind of food do ya like?” Lena and Regina shared a look, both knowing their night was going to be long and there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop it. Both knowing that even attempting to stop the train wreck would undoubtedly make everything that much worse.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Kara bromance! Can National City survive it? Lol, we'll see.
> 
> I can't wait for Injustice 2 to come out, I WAS gonna get the ultimate edition hard copy but since Batdingaling is on the cover, I'll get the Deluxe edition that has Supergirl on the cover and just buy the remaining six DLCs when they become available. The excitement!
> 
> Oh, and I almost forgot, Black Widow in da house!
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the comments and kudos! I really appreciate it all!


	12. I See You (Come To Me) Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Supergirl.
> 
> I was also presented a gift not too long ago: **Left Behind**
> 
> Thank you, **Richelieu**! I've never had a gift on here before, tbh. So you guys make sure to check out her work too, okay? 
> 
> Also, more good news, there is a new story under my moniker here, **Ascension** handed gingerly from the moniker **Monster Galore** , so if you like Mass Effect and OUAT mashed into one, brilliantly, if I may so myself. Go check it out, that was another gift that needs to be honored with completion! I will pick it up in a week or so, so be sure to check it out as well!
> 
> Onwards!

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Lena dropped her keys on the table that was next to the garage door, and closing the door behind her softly. Unbeknownst to Kara, Lena had sent Emma and Regina on their way back to their own home because the sorceress wanted to give Kara her undivided attention, with little to no interruptions. As Lena made her way to her kitchen, she was happy to see that Kara was nowhere in sight but Lena could hear the younger woman's heavy footsteps directly above her in her bedroom. The brunette fixed herself a glass of wine and smiled to herself, glad that Kara felt completely relaxed to roam as she pleased in her home. And she was extremely proud of the fact that the young alien was comfortable enough to come to her with her problems and for advice.

Lena thought it would take Kara much, much,  _ much  _ longer for that progress to happen but Lena wasn't going to complain about it but instead she was going to strengthen the bond between her and Kara. The sorceress waited for a few moments before she took her wine glass and a bottle of water upstairs to her bedroom, just as Kara was coming out of her bathroom suite, freshly showered in a tank top and sleeping shorts. Her hair was pinned at the top of her head in a messy bun, and Lena couldn't help but think how adorable and gorgeous Kara looked just now. Stress free and relaxed.

The set their preferred drinks on the night stand and approached her blonde, rubbing the girl's firm biceps gently, “I'm going to take a shower, and maybe after wards we can watch a movie. Or do you want to sleep after the long day you’ve had?”

“ Um,” Kara bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, “I can go for a movie, I'll make the popcorn and set up the movie room.”

“ Actually, Kara, we can watch the movie in here. If you feel comfortable doing so?” Lena added as an after thought, not wanting to push Kara's personal space too far, too soon, continuing to rub the strong arms beneath her hands.

Kara just smiled and rolled her shoulders, pushing her glasses back up on the bridge of her nose, “No,no...in here is totally fine. At least if I fall asleep, the beds comfortable, right?”

“ Of course, darling, now go make the popcorn and find a good movie while I shower.” Lena brushed past Kara, feeling the girls warmth through her own clothing and patted the Kryptonians firm derriere subconsciously, and though Kara blushed slightly from the gesture—she thought nothing of it, nor did she mind, and used her super speed to get to the kitchen.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

While Kara could've used her heat vision for the popcorn, she didn’t want to burn it like last time so she stuck a bag in the microwave and watched the time count down impatiently. As she was sitting on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth, her phone rang somewhere in the garage and Kara quickly retrieved it and was back in her spot in a second. She dreaded that it would be Alex, not in the mood to talk to the DEO Agent so soon after their very public spat, but she was rather surprised to discover that it was Maggie calling her.

Kara had a sneaking suspicion or two as to why her sisters girlfriend was calling her; either Maggie figured out that she was the one on the bike street racing through the city or Alex was using Maggie to talk to her. Though screening the call was always an option, Kara took a risk and answered, “Uh, hello?”

“ _ Mini Danvers—” _

“ Don't call me that.”

Maggie was quiet for a few moments,  _ “Would this have anything to do with the fight you and Alex had earlier?” _

“ You know about that, huh?” Kara sighed, moving to take out one bag of popcorn and put in a new one.

“ _ Among other things, yeah, kiddo, I do. Do you wanna talk about it? Or at least come over and talk this out tonight?” _

“ Did Alex put you up for this, Maggie?”

“ _ No, I'm calling on my own as a friend but thanks for your vote of confidence.”  _ when Kara didn’t share her slight humor, Maggie stopped chuckling and tsked lightly,  _ “Look, I really just wanted to make sure that I won't be arresting you in the future, Kara. What you did tonight was reckless and I hope it was a one time thing.” _

“ It was.” Kara didn’t bother trying to deny it, or playing dumb as if she didn’t know what Maggie was talking about and the hero suspected that's why the NCPD Detective  _ really  _ called.

“ _ Good. I noticed you weren’t home tonight...are you at least safe?” _

“ Yeah I'm..um, I'm with a friend tonight.”

Maggie chuckled,  _ “A friend, right, well like I said before Kara, you have good taste.” _

Kara blushed as she took out the second bag of popcorn, “It's not like that Maggie, we're just friends. I swear on Rao we are!”

“ _ Yeah? That's what I said about your sister, but look where I sleep ever night now.”  _ Maggie laughed when Kara pretended to gag and was still laughing when Kara hung up the phone. The alien rolled her eyes at the brunette's antics, smiling none the less the entire time she was fixing her and Lena their late night movie snack and zipping back upstairs in record time, just as Lena finally finished her shower.

Not being in the mood for the typical comedy or romance, or just anything with real people in it—Kara simply chose a cartoon, a silly cartoon with a purple dog living in the middle of nowhere with two elderly people.

The Kryptonian expected the brunette to say something in regards to her choice for movie night, but the older woman just dimmed the lights until they were nearly turned off and got under the covers next to Kara and readjusted the snack bowl. They both engaged with the movie that Kara picked, the two were comfortable next to each other and sharing the popcorn bowl. Eventually, they both mowed their way to the bottom of the bowl and Lena set the bowl aside on the nightstand, smiling when Kara inched across the small space and into Lena's. Whether it was intentional or not, Lena welcomed the Kryptonian into her arms casually, and snuggled down into the pillows herself. Kara was heavy but the sorceress welcomed her weight, and when Kara began to completely relax, Lena could practically feel Kara's heartbeat.

The brunette pressed her lips to the top of Kara's head, but it wasn't exactly a kiss—Kara curled one hand around the forearm around her her collarbone and smiled, “This reminds me of movie nights with Alex...but better.”

Lena tried not to let the petty smugness show but she couldn't help the smirk (at least Kara was focused on the TV and not her face), “When do you actually plan on reconciling with your sister, Kara?”

“ My adoptive sister,” the Kryptonian corrected with a grumble, “I'll talk to her when I'm ready, why is everyone pushing  _ me  _ to go to her?!”

Lena simply tightened her hold on the alien when she tried to sit up and this time she did kiss the top of Kara's head, and that seemed to calm the blonde easy enough... _ for now,  _ “I wasn't insinuating that, Kara, I was only asking if you planned to completely exile your Earth family from your life from now on.”

Kara just shrugged, worrying her bottom lip, “I don't see why not, my cousin Kal-El had no problem doing it to me...and besides, it's not like Eliza would really care. She doesn’t even like the fact that I'm an alien.”

“ Kara—”

“ Lena, can we not talk about  _ them _ tonight? Please?”

“ Okay.” The Sorceress pursed her lips, and swallowed her line of questioning. The last thing she wanted to do was disturb Kara's zen, but at one point or another—Lena knew she'd have to break down those stubborn walls the Kryptonian held close to her heart and mind. The two women lay in silence once again, but this time around—neither of them were focusing on the movie.

Both too caught up in their thoughts of what the other said to focus on much else, and Lena startled slightly when Kara spoke, “I just wanna not...control anymore...” the Kryptonian began worrying her bottom lip, trying to get her thoughts in order so she didn’t sound like a complete idiot. One she's often felt like she's been her entire life, and Lena opted to stay quiet, curious and hopeful, “I-I mean...I just...” when Kara began to pull away again, this time Lena allowed the younger woman her space and watching her like a hawk as Supergirl began pacing the foot of the bed like some caged animal. And with the storm raging in her heart, she might as well be.

“ Growing up, the only thing I had to worry about was being normal enough for my Earth family. Yeah, I looked human...but did I sound human? Did I act like, I...I was fascinated by birds once, and I embarrassed Alex at the beach one time and that was the end of that. For the longest of time, I thought birds weren’t normal...but I envied them so much because they were so free. Free to do what they were born to do...soar.” Kara smiled, forcing her voice to sound steadier than what it would’ve been.

“ I eventually became content with my life, ignoring the fact that I will outlive this planet if Rao blesses me so. I was content going through college, pretending to be the average dork...controlling my own intellect so my professors felt as if they were the ones behind my Valedictorian honor, then I started working for Cat Grant and for the first time in my life...I found true direction.”

Lena's eyes narrowed into slits, the gold in her eyes burning low but hungrily, but Kara was too busy pacing to notice Lena's change of expression when she mentioned her former...well current...well, her  _ mentor's  _ name. “This...Grant woman, was she an old fling of yours Kara?” it was a question that Lena has been itching to ask but the opportunity never presented itself properly until now—and even so, Lena was unsure if she even wanted the answer.

“ What? No way,” Kara snorted unladylike and sat on the floor at the edge of the bed, an odd place to rest, but the old witch made no comment, “I mean, don't get me wrong. Cat is great and I had a crush on her some time ago...”

Lena scooted closer, but was careful to keep her distance, “But?”

“ But I loved her power, not her.”

“ Care to elaborate, dear?”

“ I don't...” Kara huffed, combing her fingers through her hair tirelessly, “When I became Supergirl, I was out of control. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, and I was pissing everyone off and I didn’t have support until Cat stepped in and took some of that power from me. She took the decision making from me until I was ready to handle the responsibility of Supergirl on my own. The real hero of National City is Cat Grant if I can be honest....but then,my Aunt and Uncle showed up and tried to take over the world.”

“ Myriad?”

Kara turned around, eyes wide, “You...you were here for that?”

Lena shook her head, “No, but I did my research.”

“ Oh.”

“ Earlier you said that you didn’t want to be in control anymore...what exactly did you mean, Kara?”

“ I don't know anymore. I guess...I'm not really making any sense anymore am I?” the young hero drew her knees to her chest, “Here I am, fighting to be my own person and control my own image on and off the Supergirl battlefield, and now I'm bitching about it.”

“ No, Kara. It makes perfect sense, and don't you dare let anyone tell you any different.” Lena scooted closer, and placed her hand on the Kryptonians shoulder, and squeezed it gently but firm enough for Kara to actually feel it, “Please look at me.”

Kara did without hesitation and she was startled to see golden eyes staring down at her with such a burning intensity. She swallowed thickly wanting to say something but she couldn't bring herself to, so she simply sat there and waited.

“ Have you ever heard of a subculture by the title: BDSM?”

Kara shrugged weakly, “S-sex with robes and whips?”

Lena smiled, and Kara wondered if she was seeing more of Morgana than Lena and that made her all the more curious, “For some people, yes that's exactly what it is. But you want to know something, darling, I have a feeling that you and I aren’t 'some people' are we?”

“ I'm an alien and you're a witch, so...no?”

Lena snorted, “Come to bed, and I'll explain just why BDSM and sex are not always related.”

Kara remained on the floor for a while, simply listening to Lena get comfortable beneath the covers once more. Making her own decision, the young hero got off the floor and crawled into bed with the sorceress, not even second guessing the fact that they somehow ended up in the position they started in before Kara went off into her rant. She felt safe, and comfortable—and she trust the woman that was wrapped around her. With magic, Lena powered off the TV and the lights, and she began to gently explain to Kara the subculture within the subculture, and was pleased when Kara paid rapt attention to everything she was saying.

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter...breakfast with these two will def. be interesting, no?


	13. No Pressure

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**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

Lena and Kara were sitting outside on the kitchen patio enjoying a variety of breakfast foods that may or may not have been cooked in the microwave with a large box of cereal sitting in the middle of the table along with a bowl of grapes. It wasn't exactly healthy, but neither woman didn’t need to watch their carbs all that closely—food was just a fast source of delicious energy for them both.

The silence between the two as the sun bore down on them with gentle heat, at least for Lena, due to the large gray clouds that hovered over the city—the promise of rain inevitable, so they were taking the time to enjoy the outdoors while there was still a chance to do so. While Lena was reading the morning paper and Kara was looking at National City from a distance in content (though Kara was listening for any signs of true distress that require the assistance of Supergirl), they both had something else on the forefront of their minds.

_ Kara especially. _

She had admitted to Lena the night before that she had a desire to not be in control of her life all the time, it was something that Kara wanted for the longest but she was just never sure what that even meant. Well, until last night. Of course Kara has heard of BDSM, she was an alien—a very curious alien with unlimited access to the internet. An alien who rarely got to hang out, outside of carefully picked circle of people (people she's not even on speaking terms with anymore). An alien who watched dozens and dozens of movies. Kara has definitely heard of BDSM but platonic BDSM? That was new, even for her, but the way Lena explained it to her last night—the brunette made it seem as if it had been a thing for a very long time now.

The Kryptonian studied her friend as discreetly as she could. The way Lena described everything the previous night, with great detail and patience—Kara could tell the woman would be right for the job. If Kara would even be brave enough to try. She wasn't sure if she should, or even if she could, if she were being perfectly honest with herself.  _ How would it even work?  _ Kara was a superhero, she couldn't just...drop that because she simply didn’t want to have control over her own life 24/7 anymore. Lena mentioned there were rules to the game, the scenes, and often times for most—the lifestyle. Kara didn’t ask what sort of rules, and Lena didn’t do more than scratch the surface of that topic.

But everything else Lena did explain with a perfect pitch, Kara wanted. Kara wanted to come home and release the control the moment she stepped through the front door. She wanted someone else to make her schedule, tell her what to do, when to do it and how to do it. She liked the idea of having someone else manage the stress in her life; emotional management—a guide to the end of the tunnel as Lena had mentioned before.

She wanted it so badly that it was making her leg jiggle rapidly beneath the table, but what exactly did she want? How? And what about her role as Supergirl? There were too many factors Kara knew she had to consider before she could just jump headfirst into another world she knew absolutely nothing about.

“ Hey, Lena?

The older woman glanced at her friend,taking note of that cute little crinkle between her eyebrows and the unsure tone of her voice. The sorceress knew what Kara wanted, “Yes?”

“ Can we talk? About, you know...last night? I, um, have some questions. If you don't mind?”

“ Of course!” Lena shifted in her chair, her attention no longer concerned with the morning paper. She set it down and focused all of her attention on Kara, “Ask me anything, I may just have an answer for you.” she winked and Kara blushed slightly.

“ Right, well...I guess...” Kara chuckled breathlessly, “Shit. This all made sense in my head, I'm sorry.”

“ Don't apologize, darling. Please, just take your time. Would you like to go inside, get more comfortable?”

“ No. No, out here is fine. I just...I don't know. It's just so much information to take in. The platonic BDSM, I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”

“ What part of it?”

Kara's blush deepened, “I guess the s-sexual part of it first. I still don't understand how we can do...that and not get frisky.”

“ I suppose due to media presentation of the subculture and all of the porn that's out there.” Lena nodded in understanding, “Yes, it can be very intense but most people forget or simply overlook the fact that BDSM  _ can _ be caring and warm without being romantic. The sex and love would be a bonus, yes, but it should not always be expected.”

“ So, in theory...if I was...interested,  _ in theory _ with us; me and you, what would we be doing?”

Lena sipped her hot tea, looking at Kara over the rim of her mug with careful consideration. She could see the open curiosity and genuine interest in the Kryptonians intense blue eyes, and the last thing she wanted to do was scare her off. Regardless of her own desires, Lena was going to be bare bottom honest with the blonde.

“ You and I would be exploring power exchange. Not love. But if it happened, I would not object but it wouldn't be the foundation of that aspect of our relationship. Hypothetically, of course.” Lena waved her hand over the table casually and everything disappeared, in it's place lay a pen and journal, “Last night, you expressed concern of being out of control of your own life...and wanting to relinquish that control from time to time to someone else.”

“ Yeah, I know.” Kara looked down at the table, fidgeting. “Depression is...hard. Sometimes it's there, and sometimes it's not. I feel like...me again but when it hits me—I just wish someone else would take over. Saying that out loud, it makes zero sense, right? Rao, this is pitiful.” she whispered, more to herself than to Lena.

“ Kara, please look at me.” Lena waited until she was looking into those endless blue eyes again, “Please don't ever feel ashamed or embarrassed for feeling the way that you do. It's okay to feel that way, but it is not okay to bottle it in and I'm so proud of you for telling me. And whether it was me or someone else, Kara, that really does take strength to say out loud.”

“ I...um, thank you.”

Lena took Kara's hand in her own, thumb stroking the single vein that was protruding. It seemed as if Kara had more on her mind, more to say. So the sorceress waited patiently but when it became apparent that Kara was going to remain silent, Lena pulled the pen and pad closer towards her.

“ The fact that you've acknowledged your depression is a victory in itself, Kara. And it makes me happy that you trusted me enough to tell me, and to let me in.”

“ Admitting it and facing it are two different things, though” the blonde sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair.

“ True, but guess what? You won't be facing it alone, I will be by your side. Every step of the way, you will struggle—I will not sit here and lie to you, Kara, but we will struggle together.”

“ That makes me feel a little better.”

“ Hm,” Lena wrote something down on her pad before making it disappear, the more Kara's leg jiggled and shook the table—the more Lena realized that this conversation was not the time nor the place. Despite the fact that Kara was the one that initiated it, “Kara, I want you to go home—”

“ What? Why?”

“ I want you to go home and do some research on this, all of this. Take notes, and when you finally feel satisfied enough with the information you've acquired, I want you to come back and we'll really have a talk.”

“ But...why? aren’t we talking now?”

“ Yes, we are. But it's suddenly occurred to me, that the talk we  _ need  _ to have is not one you're yet  _ ready  _ for. You know what I know, and that's not good enough. You need to do your own research, gather your own perspective so to speak.”

“ Oh. Oh well, I...I don't know, Lena, maybe this was a bad idea after all, then.”

Kara pulled her hand away and Lena let go immediately, realizing she might have pushed too fast, “What's a bad idea, Kara?”

“ This, what we're talking about. I feel ashamed for even thinking I could...I think I better go.”

“ Kara, you have nothing feel ashamed about.”

“ Don't I?” Kara was growing frustrated and Lena could see it in her eyes, “I'm a freaking superhero, Lena. I'm supposed to be strong, and confident and...I'm even considering being a fucking CEO to the biggest media company in history..what if people find out? They'll laugh and judge me, and I won't be taken seriously ever again. It's my one chance to prove I'm in control of my own fucking life, and that I can make my own decisions—”

“ But that's not what you always want though, is it Kara?”

“ N-no, but do you know how humiliating it would be if people found out? How weak I would look?”

“ Kara, this isn’t about weakness. It's about trust. And it goes both ways.” Lena stood and walked around the table to stand in front of the alien, and took both of her hands in her own, “Go home, take a few hours to think about this, do your research. Perhaps, gather some Intel on what you're interested in and what you wouldn't be. When you're ready, I'll be here waiting for you.”

Kara shifted her weight, worrying her bottom lip, “But what if I wanna come back but not talk about that?”

“ Then come back and we won't talk about it.” Lena smiled, stepping closer to Kara, “I truly care about you Kara and all I want is for you to be happy and healthy.”

“ You've done this before, Lena?”

“ What, be someone's Domme? Yes, a very long time ago.”

Kara nodded, and before she could think herself out of it, she threw her arms around Lena's neck and hugged the woman tight knowing that she could take it. Lena's strong arms snaked around her waist, and returned the gesture with the same gusto. They lingered in each other's arms until Lena actually had to breath.

But she didn’t release the blonde immediately, she stared down into Kara's eyes as their breath mingled. As much as Lena wanted to kiss her, and she could see the feeling was wholeheartedly returned with the way Kara's eyes kept dropping to her lips—Lena knew it was still too soon, so she settled for kissing her forehead and breaking their embrace. “When you're ready, sweetheart, I'll be here. Oh and Kara?”

Kara turned, looking at the brunette expectantly, “Yeah?”

“ Maybe give Emma a call, you two might have a lot more in common than either of you originally thought.”

Kara nodded, and used her super speed to get dressed and mount her bike in record time. She didn’t want to leave but she knew that Lena was right. She did need to do her own research before she jumped head first into something, and now that Kara was alone—she was able to ease the slight feeling of rejection, and turn it into appreciation. Lena was only looking out for her best interest, she's always been doing that. Since the moment they’ve met, and that's more than Kara could say for the majority of the people in her life.

As she was walking her bike out of the garage and into the driveway, she put on her helmet and dialed Regina's number. The woman answered on the third ring, and her usual husky timbre filled Kara's helmet speakers smoothly, “Yo, this is Emma.”

“ H-hey Emma, this is Kara.”

“ My favorite little shit! I was wondering when you’d call, dear. What's up? Want a rematch or something?”

Kara laughed, shaking her head even though the other woman couldn't see her, “No, no...I was just calling to say hi, and to see if you wanted to grab dinner with me later?”

“ Dinner, huh? Yeah sure why not, text me your address and I'll swing by around 8. I found this great little taco truck downtown. We can make it a girl's night or something.”

“ Sure, why not.”

“ Good answer, kid. See you tonight, oh and...we might get into a few bar fights, dress for the occasion.” Kara didn’t get a chance to protest because Emma had already hung up the phone. Supergirl immediately thought of Maggie and her warning about not getting into trouble, but the Detective said street racing—not bar fights. Though Kara was curious if this is what Lena had in mind when she said to call Emma.  _ Well, only one way to find out I guess.  _ Sirens and gunshots reached her ears,  _ damn...duty calls. _

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna give them the talk but then I realized I didn't wanna do it yet, but I am far too fucking lazy to redo this chapter for the third time, so this is what the result of my indecisiveness was. But in reality, Lena/Morgana did the right thing any how. It was too soon.
> 
> I think before they go there (which is soon, don't worry I'm not that troll happy) Kara should talk to someone who's on her level. sub-wise, know what I mean? Anyway, sorry for the wait and I appreciate to comments and kudos!
> 
> C_S


	14. Slow Ride (More Shenanigans)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alcohol, Vinyl Rock, and A Sexy Car and no damn gas.
> 
> Nothing good is coming out of girls night.

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Kara wasn't exactly sure what 'dress for the occasion' when it came to bar fights, but she figured a pair of denim jeans, her calf high riding boots and a tank top with a black leather jacket. Kara was a little nervous, given how her night turned out the last time she and Emma were together—and they didn’t even  _ know  _ each other that night. Kara stared at her reflection in the mirror, eyes drifting to her bare collarbone. She was contemplating putting on a t-shirt and actually putting on her super suit just in case she would need it tonight—but before she could second guess her outfit, her doorbell rang.

Kara was startled and cursed witches for being quiet as air. She grabbed her keys and tucked her laptop and notepad away behind her pillows on her sofa before zipping to the front door. Emma was standing on the other side, dressed in similar fashion to Kara except her tank top was white and her jacket was royal blue.

Emma nodded in approval, “Nice. You ready?”

Kara shrugged, “Uh, sure, yeah.” she closed the door behind her and locked it, “So where are we going first?”

“ First stop is the taco truck,” Emma held up a hand, when they reached the elevator, “Wait a minute...can you even get drunk?”

“ Uh...” Kara shrugged helplessly, “No, but hey look on the bright side. If we get into a drinking contest, I'd totally win that bet.”

Emma laughed, and wrapped her arm around Kara's shoulders, “I'm definitely holding you to that.”

When they reached the lobby of the building and walked outside, Kara was expecting a candy red Plymouth to be parked behind her motorcycle but instead sat a royal blue 1967 GT500 mustang. And if Kara had a thing for cars, she'd be drooling by now. Emma removed her arm from Kara's shoulders and stood in front of her new friend, “Alright, I have two rules for girls night. You listening?”

“ Yes.”

“ Rule number one, don't tell Regina shit.” Kara rolled her eyes, but Emma continued on, “Rule number two, don't tell Lena shit. Do I need to repeat anything?”

“ You want me to... _ lie _ to Lena?”

Emma shrugged, stuffing her hands into her back pockets, “No, but you know, bro-code and all. Bro's before hoes.”

“ So Lena and Regina are a bunch of hoes?”

“ What?! N-no, that is  _ not  _ what I said and—”Kara couldn't keep the shit eating grin off her face and Emma's eyes narrowed when she realized the Kryptonian was messing with her. “You little shit, get in before I knock you into the next city.”

Kara laughed and climbed into the passenger's seat, while Emma ran around to the drivers side.

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In downtown National City, the nightlife was really alive tonight and Kara was in awe. It was different actually being in the heart of it when she wasn't kicking Metahuman or alien ass or simply flying over it. It made her feel alive and the smile on her face would not be going anywhere anytime soon. Emma was glad to see that Kara was enjoying herself too early in their night—hell she was glad she even called, as Emma hated going out alone and usually Regina would go, but she always kept a tight leash on Emma. And Emma loved her soulmate, dearly, but as a dragon—she needed some sort of adrenaline rush outside of their bedroom. And the night she and Kara decided to race through the city—Emma knew Kara was her future best friend.

“ Oh Rao, these things are so good!” Kara moaned as she took one last bite of her taco, “I never knew lime juice on a fajita meat with cilantro could be so good! How can something so simple be so good!?”

Emma chuckled and slipped off the edge of her hood, and pulled something from her jacket pocket and handed it to her friend, “Here, puppy, drink some of this.”

Kara set her plate aside and took a whiff of the liquid inside. Her head jerked back, “What the hell is that?”

Emma took the flask and took a swig for herself, the liquid working through her lithe body quickly. And she burped under her breath, a small spout of fire escaping. Though the crowd around them was large given that they parked on the curb behind the food truck, no one saw it except for Kara, “Holy shit! You're a dragon!”

Emma glared halfheartedly, “Say that a little louder next time. You're lucky no one here believes in witches and dragons.”

Kara snorted unladylike, “Yeah but we have aliens.”

“ The ignorance is not lost on me, trust me, here. It's not enough to get you drunk, but the buzz will last all night.”

Kara took the flask again, “What is it?”

“ Regina's apple cider. Special dosage for a dragon, I figured it would work for you too.”

Kara sniffed the flask again, this time she could actually smell the apples though it was faint against whatever else that was mixed in. Deciding to just take the risk, and enjoy her life for once, Kara tossed it back. And goddamn, were her veins on  _ fire!  _ She had to check to make sure she wasn't burning from the inside out—she felt extremely warm from the roots of her hair down to the tips of her toes.

“ Holy shit, that's...that's good!”

Emma patted Kara's back, and took another swig from the flask, “More tacos for the road? We can't go to Morgana's bar, but I know another bar that's just as cool. You game?”

Kara took the offered flask, and took another shot, “Bring it on.”

The two drove a few blocks to the bar Emma was talking about, both stuffing their mouths with lime covered fajita tacos and passing the flask back and forth. Emma parked her car backwards in case they needed to do a quick getaway, and for her, it wouldn't be the first time.

The bar was seedy at best, and the air was full of smoke—so much it would’ve been hard to see, if they were human but even Kara had to narrow her eyes a bit because they were starting to burn. The bar was big, and it was crowded. The characters in the bar looked seedy as hell, and Kara was positive she's seen five people she's put in jail before finally reaching the bar.

Emma waved down the bartender, “Scotch for me, and bourbon for her.”

The bartender eyed Kara warily, she looked like a light weight to him but he gave them their drinks anyway. It was none of his business, he didn’t get paid enough anyway.

While Emma was scoping out the best fighters in the bar, Kara was scoping out the bar itself. She tapped Emma's arm quickly, “Hey, check it out! They have a pool table!”

Emma turned, spotting the source of her friends excitement and followed the blonde to the corner where the pool table was sitting, “You any good, kid?”

“ I haven’t played in a while, but I'm sure I still have  _ some  _ skills left.” Emma looked at Kara a little oddly, wondering why she was talking so damn loud.

“ Yeah? Wanna put a wager down for some practice?” Emma looked at the tall, muscular and typical gear-head holding a beer in one hand and a cue stick in the other. It was then that Emma took notice that Kara led them straight into the lion's den.

“Um, well I don't know sir, I don't have much to offer.” Emma's head whipped back towards Kara so fast, she almost lost balance, _what the fuck? Sir?_ But it was then that Emma caught the slight gleam in the Kryptonians eye. _She's totally playing this dude!_ Between the tacos, the night life excitement and Regina's apple cider, Kara was game.

The gear-head and his buddies chuckled, “Oh come on, just one game. Fifty bucks. I'll go easy on you and I'll even let you go first.” he offered Kara his cue stick, “You game, baby?”

Kara set her bourbon down, and shrugged off her jacket, “Sure.” she took the offered cue stick with a sweet smile, “Thank you.”

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“ You're driving, pool shark!” Emma yelled, and tossed the keys to Kara who caught them mid air as she slid over the hood of the car.

Kara scrambled into the driver's seat and started the car. She floored it, the car fishtailing into traffic, the passenger's side tire lifting from the ground but thankfully they didn’t hit anything and Kara gained control quickly. Emma stuck her head out of the window with a shit eating grin, “Holy fuck, that was awesome!...Oh...Oh shit, go faster!”

“ What?!” Kara glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw multiple headlights moving erratically through traffic behind them, “Oh Rao, what is their problem!?”

“ You stole all of their money!” Emma laughed disbelief and put on her seat belt, “Just get us the fuck out of here!” Emma unraveled another taco as Kara ran a red-light, making a sharp right to avoid colliding with another car. The tires squealing and burning white smoke, unfortunately, there was a patrol car on the opposite side of the street who saw the entire thing. And while that may have gotten rid of their current pursuers—they gained a whole new set. Ones they didn’t want entirely.

“ What's with the cops in this town?!”

Kara snorted, glancing at the older blonde who had yet again stuck her head out of the window, “Uh, they're doing their jobs! I thought we were supposed to be having fun, Emma!”

“ This  _ is  _ fun!”

“ This is  _ not  _ fun!”

“ Hey, I wanted to start bar fights! You're the one who robbed a bunch of street racers!” Emma chortled, “Which was awesome by the way,”

“ And once again, Supergirl is nowhere to be seen.” Kara mumbled, making another sharp right, gunning it towards the highway. “Next time we have a girls night, we need to go another universe!” Kara yelled over the beautiful, angry growl of the engine and the multiple sirens.

Emma looked at Kara, eyebrow raised, impressed, “If we survive this, that's the next girls night plan!”

Kara pushed the mustang into higher gear as she broke into traffic on the highway. Kara checked the rear-view mirror, they were losing the cops in the SUVs and cruisers but there was an all black corvette stingray weaving in and out of traffic and gaining on them. The Kryptonian could hear a helicopter in the distance and she swore under her breath and pressed her foot harder on the accelerator. In the passenger's seat, Emma began eating the rest of the tacos—she was stress eating, and the warning...no, the  _ threat, _ Regina gave her before she left for girls night was suddenly becoming a real possibility in her near future.

“ Go faster, Zor-El!”

Kara opened her mouth to make a snide remark at the other blonde, but the soft clunking reached her sensitive ears first before Emma heard it too and the dragon seemed to have remembered something, and squeezed her eyes shut.

“ What?! What's happening? Why are we slowing down?!”

“ I forgot to get gas.”

“ Idiot.” Kara had half a mind to just jump out and get the hell out of dodge and judging by the look on Emma's face, she was about to do the same with her magic but the helicopter reached them before either of them could use the night as a cover. The spotlight shined down on their parked location in the middle of the highway. Kara watched as a the corvette came to a screeching halt in front of their position. To Supergirl's horror, a livid Maggie Sawyer jumped out of the passengers side with her gun already drawn, followed by a mysterious redhead.

“ Shit fuck.” Emma mumbled, unbuckling her seat belt.

“ We're so screwed.” Kara agreed, raising her hands as well.  _ Lena and Cat are going to fucking kill me. _

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Kara couldn't help herself. She smiled for her mug shot. It was her first one, she wasn't sure what else she was supposed to do, so she gave her best smile. Maggie had been the one to arrest her, and after the brunette read Kara her rights and put her in a police cruiser—that was the last time the hero saw her sister's girlfriend. Thankfully, she and Emma were put in a cell together

Kara sat on the bench, as far away from the rusty toilet bowl as possible. “When are we getting our phone call?”

Emma plopped down on the seat next to her, “A phone call should be the last of your worries, kid.”

“ Why?”

“ Lena and Regina are on their way right now. And on a scale of one to ten, we're screwed on a level thirty.”

“ Well, it was fun knowing you.”

Emma snorted, “Yeah, same here. But seriously, Kara? You have some serious pool skills. And where the hell did you learn how to drive like that? You had some serious burn out.”

“ I, um, I taught myself,” Kara blushed, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “I'm more of a bike person, but I like your cars—they're so vintage and beautiful.”

“ I have one with your name on it, if you're interested—ya know, if we live through the wrath of our soul mates.” Emma realizing her slip a tad too late, winced inwardly.

“ Soul mates? Lena and I? No way, we're just friends.”

“ Sorry, sorry,” Emma nodded, she knew that it was something more than that but it wasn't her place to say anything so she just agreed and steered their conversation back to safer waters, “So the car? You interested, free of charge of course?”

“ Um...what kind of car is it?”

Emma crossed her arms, eyes drifting closed, “A 1970 Dodge Challenger coupe. It needs some TLC but it's yours if you want it.”

“ It's not already built up?”

Emma shook her head, one eye opening to see Kara looking at her, “Nah. I like collecting old cars that need to be fixed up, it gives me something to do and helps keep my mind from going to dark places you know? But you know, if you don't want the car, there are some bike bod's I have in my junk yard you can look at too.”

“ Building cars helps you relax?”

“ Yeah, all the time. And when I finish my projects, it's the best feeling in the world. The feeling of accomplishment outranks feeling like a failure all the damn time.”

Kara nodded, she understood that all too well—too bad she didn’t have any real accomplishments as of lately, “I don't know if I'll be any good with building a car or a motorcycle, but I'm willing to try.”

“ What hobbies do you have?”

“ Besides saving the day? I watch TV. That's it.”

Emma snorted, “Not much productivity there, huh? Yeah, it used to be the same for me. Sit on the sofa in front of the TV and do nothing but eat and sleep, it was a nightmare.”

“ That sounds depressing,” Kara's eyes snapped up, one hand covering her mouth, “I-I didn’t mean to say—”

“ Ha, it's okay kid. It was depressing, hell I was depressed and sometimes I still am—it never really goes away. But I'm better now than I ever was back then.”

“ What changed?”

“ I met Regina.”

**_CLANG!_ ** Both dragon and Kryptonian jumped embarrassingly high in their seats when the door to their corridor slammed shut, and the two detectives who arrested them appeared before their cell. “Up and at'em, your bail's been posted.” Maggie gritted, her glare firmly settled on Kara who  _ refused  _ to look at her and that only served to piss the brunette off even more. “Opposite sides of the room, with your hands on the wall. Now.”

Natasha entered the cell first and cuffed Kara, she had noticed how livid her partner was towards this one and to avoid any unnecessary complications with their arrest, she took Kara. When they arrived to the lobby of the police station, Lena and Regina were there waiting and neither of them looked happy at all. Kara wished she was back in that nasty cell.

“ Lena—”

“ **No.** ”

Her glare was like a slap to the face, and her tone was a punch to the gut. Kara allowed the red-haired Detective to lead her into a private office and sit her down in a chair behind a metal table.

“ Alright Danvers, let's start from the beginning—”

“ I thought our bail was posted?”

“ It was, but we still have thirty minutes before the process is completed. Oh, where are my manners, I'm Detective Natasha Romanov. Now, as I was saying...tell me about your night.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, that just happened. Lol, I like writing writing these chapters for the Shenanigan arc. It's fun, dangerous, but fun, stupid, but fun. Not quite a bar fight, it went a tad left field towards the end. But they're starting to bromance now, hopefully without the cops being involved in the future lol. Maybe they need their own 'playground' huh?
> 
> But I do know something, (Mama) Cat is going to be so mad and Alex is going to flip. her. shiiiiiit.
> 
> And tomorrow (in story time,not literally) we get to see what other trouble and lectures for Kara and Emma are in for. Emma has a more... physical lecture than Kara so to speak though. (Not for prying eyes however)
> 
> Thank you all for the comments and kudos! I will get back to everyone tomorrow, but it's time for bed now!
> 
> C_S


	15. Boundaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best chapter, but it's a chapter. :)

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After answering zero questions for Maggie and her partner, they were finally able to leave the police station and it left Kara feeling dirty. As if she'd just beaten some slime covered alien or Metahuman kind of dirty. She and Emma had only been sitting in the jail cell for only an hour or so, but it had felt like she'd been sitting on that bench against the wall for  _ hours  _ with that dirty toilet staring her down. Mocking her.  _ Haunting her. _

The Kryptonian startled slightly when someone punched her upper arm gently, and she looked over to see Emma smiling grimly at her, “See you later, kid. Good luck with Morgana.”

Kara nodded, eyes drifting towards Lena's retreating back, going towards her white range rover then back to the other blonde, “Yeah, you too. Goodnight, Emma.”

“ Night, puppy, and hey don't forget about the car I was telling you about, alright? It has your name written on it.”

“ Yeah, and a bunch of tickets.” Kara snorted, then jogged away to catch up to Lena. Not risking the use of her superspeed in front of the police station, or just in public in general. The moment Kara climbed into the passenger's seat and buckled up, Lena pulled away from the curb, making a u-turn and going the opposite direction of Regina's Mercedes. The majority of their car ride was quiet, and because Kara found it better to stare down out of the window rather than pay attention to where they were going—she was rather surprised when Lena suddenly parked the car and killed the engine. The Kryptonian looked around and saw that they were sitting in the National City Zoo parking lot, a few spaces from the entrance. Kara could hear some of the animals inside snoring or pacing away in their habitats. She could even hear the penguins chirping a song, and it made her smile but that smile quickly fell when Lena sighed.

“ The penguins are singing quite the tune tonight, aren’t they?”

“ I...Lena, why aren’t you yelling at me?” Kara fidgeted in her seat, “I mean...I don't know, you're so calm right now, and it's a little...scary.”

The corner of Lena's lips twitched, “I'd prefer not to raise my voice, Kara. However, you and I both know that what you and Emma did tonight was careless, correct?”

“ Yes, I know.” Kara nodded, unable to hold Lena's gaze and looked away towards the zoo entrance, “I started it though, this time...”

“ Kara, I knew what you and Emma were going to get up to the moment I suggested you both hang out together.”

Kara startled, “What? You did? But...! Then why—”

“ Because I needed to prove a suspicion of mine.” Lena interrupted mildly, reaching over to place her hand on Kara's forearm gently. “I'm sorry that it may seem a tad cruel of me to do, but I just wanted to see if you knew what your boundaries were and how far you'd let someone push you until just said no.”

Kara unbuckled her seatbelt and shifted around in her seat until she was leaning back against the door with one leg tucked beneath her, “I just...I don't know anymore, Lena. Saying no to Alex was hard enough and I'm still fighting that decision everyday, but saying no to the world? The world that literally depends on me?” Kara shook her head, brows furrowed, “I don't know if I do have any boundaries.”

Lena nodded, eyes studying Kara's face quietly. Carefully picking her next words, not wishing to upset her friend any further than she already was, “Kara, I'm not going to sit here and pretend to understand how hard your life is as a superhero. But I'm also not going to sit here and pretend that I don't see you spiraling out of control. I spotted it the moment you walked into my bar, before we became friends—and if I could spot it, a complete stranger, then I'm sure the people in your inner circle has as well.” Lena moved to caress Kara's face with both hands, thumbs wiping away the hot tears, “All of your life, sweetheart, you have been everything everyone has wanted you to be without complaint. And now that you have the chance to be the woman  _ you  _ want to be, the extraordinary woman I know you can and will be—you need to express boundaries. Even as Supergirl.”

“ I don't know how, Lena, I really don't.”

“ I know, baby, I know...and I want to help you.”

Kara blinked rapidly at the endearment, her heart fluttering but she tried to ignore it for the time being, “But Lena you  _ have  _ been helping me! You have, and I've...I've never felt so...I've never felt so comfortable in my own skin until I met you. You're the best friend I've ever had in my entire life.” the heroine moved around in her seat again, breaking free of Lena's hold. But the tight confines of the SUV were starting to swallow her whole, and she exited the vehicle. Lena sat in the driver's seat for a few more beats, watching Kara pace in front of her car before slipping out as well, and calmly closing the door. She leaned back against the hood, arms folded across her chest.

“ Maybe I shouldn't take Cat's offer.”

“ Maybe you should.”

Kara stopped and looked at her friend curiously, “But...my boundaries? I...I just don't think I should, Morgana, it's not safe and it's not smart.”

“ Is that what you really want, and what you really think baby? Or is that the doubts that others have put into your head?”

Kara turned her back on Lena, hugging her middle tightly, not wanting the other woman to see her tears any longer, “I don't know.” Kara hated how unsure she sounded, she hated how insecure she felt and most of all—she hated that Lena was there to witness it all.

“ Maybe taking Ms. Grant's offer will be difficult for the first few weeks, or months, but I believe it might be good for you. A good experience for you to grow. But it's your choice, just make sure that you're actually doing it for you and you only. Not for Ms. Grant, not to spite your sister, or to impress me or anyone else. This is your life, baby, and I'm behind you every step of the way okay? Whatever you decide.”

“ I want to, I really do...but how can I, when I don't even know where it all starts and where it stops?”

Lena exhaled softly, pushing off of her car and came up behind Kara, “Come home with me tonight, and we'll find out. If this is what you want, I will do everything in my power to help you.” Lena's eyes flashed yellow, her front scantily pressed into Kara's backside, “And don't worry, I have centuries of patience. Trust me.”

Kara smiled wearily as she turned around, gasping softly at the fading yellow tint in Lena's eyes before they went back to the beautiful virescent, “I do trust you, and I'm—”

“ _ Hey!”  _ Kara nearly jumped out of her skin, she wasn't paying close attention to her surroundings as she should have been and she whirled around to see a security guard standing behind them, with his flashlight beaming at them—and she ultimately missed the yellow fire burning in Lena's eyes at the interruption, but the security guard didn’t. He wasn't even looking at Kara, but the woman behind her and took a step back, “L-look, I'm not gonna c-call the cops but you two need to leave. I'm only gonna warn you both once!”

Kara was confused by his nervousness, but thought nothing of it. She smiled at him, trying to calm his heart rate but it only skyrocketed and she just figured he was new, “Sorry sir...we'll be out of your way, we're leaving right now, okay? Lena, are you ready?

Lena blinked and her eyes were back to normal again before Kara could see, “Yes, of course. Sorry for trespassing sir, goodnight.”

He nodded at Lena, eyes wide, “Of-of course, ma’am.”

After making sure that Kara got into the vehicle safely (as if she really needed to worry on a logical level) Lena finally admitted to herself as she rounded the vehicle to her side, that it was becoming increasingly difficult to contain her temper when it came to Kara.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_ Across the city... _

Alex paced her office angrily, eyes never leaving the laptop screen that was sitting on her desk with her cell phone sitting right next to it. She was not only angry at her little sister, but her own girlfriend. How long has Maggie been covering for Kara's troublesome behavior? So long that it's finally landed her little sister in the goddamn slammer?! Alex combed her fingers through her hair in frustration, reaching out to pick up her phone for the millionth time, but as always she thought better of it. What was she going to do? Tell her girlfriend that she's hacked her way into the National City Police Department's video feed because she had her sister's face on alert for the DEO's facial recognition hot-wired directly to her? Kara didn’t have to answer any of Alex's calls, texts, or emails—that was fine. The older Danvers sister had other means of tracking her alien sister.

But for some odd, and very frustrating reason, Alex couldn't find any trace of the woman from the zoo. It was as if she didn’t exist, but she was credible enough to spring her sister out of jail.

Alex sank back into her chair behind her desk, and pressed a button twice...who was the other brunette and the blonde? New friends? Aliens? Metahumans?  _ “Goddamn it, Kara. _ ” Alex would be lying if she said that she wasn't bothered by not being the one her sister called when she was in trouble. And she'd be an even bigger liar if she said it didn’t sting that her own girlfriend didn’t call to tell her about it. Any of it.

Alex closed the lid of her laptop, and rubbed her chin as she stared at her cell phone thoughtfully,  _ I'm sorry Kara, but I don't have any other options.  _ Alex picked up her phone, and scrolled through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for. The line rang three times before it was answered,  _ “Hello?” _

“ Hey, Clark, it's me Alex.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems as if Morgana is trying to break free huh? Wonder what's gonna happen, it's like watching the Phoenix trying to break free in the earlier x-men movies lol. 
> 
> Also, sorry about the long wait for this one you guys, aside from writers block...I have been preparing for school, and I recently moved and have been taking care of that. And I have bills, lol, but I thank you all for the kind comments and kudos! I really love them, and I love your feedback.
> 
> Thank you for being (not) so patient, lmfao.
> 
> C_S


	16. Another One Bites The Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That title tells ya everything you need to know about this chapter. Lol.

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Alex checked her watch for the thousandth time as she paced the length of her living room, and checked her phone for any missed calls or text messages but everything was quiet. The DEO Agent went into her kitchen to fix herself another cup of coffee but before she could, there was a knock at her door, firm yet soft. Alex put her mug down, and went to answer her front door. Much to her relief and surprise, it was Clark in his civilian attire with his satchel in one hand.

He smiled at Alex sheepishly, “Ah, sorry I'm late. There was something I needed to take care of in Metropolis.”

“ I figured,” Alex stepped aside to let him into her apartment, “Thanks for coming by, and for keeping this under wraps.”

Clark set his satchel down on the floor as he sat on the sofa, “Yes, of course Alex. You sounded panicked over the phone, I came as soon as I could. But why the secrecy? Is it about Kara?”

Alex chuckled, Clark was always the reporter. The brunette moved into the kitchen to finish preparing her cup of coffee, and offered one to Clark who politely refused. Alex took a sip of the hot beverage, while Clark watched and waited impatiently for Alex to tell him why he flew at Mach two to get to National City.

“ There really isn’t an easy way for me to say this to you, Kal-El but Kara is off the grid.”

Clark frowned, “What do you mean by that Alex? Is Kara in trouble?”

Alex nodded, taking another sip of her coffee, “She's not  _ in  _ trouble, she  _ is  _ trouble.”

Clark shook his head, unsure if he was hearing Alex clearly, “Alex—”

“ Here,” Alex set her mug down and picked up the three photos and went to hand them to her little sister's cousin, “Got these last night,”

Clark stood, flipping through the photo's carefully with his eyebrows furrowed. Alex went back to her coffee, and watched Superman look over each photo carefully, “Alex, what was... _ Kara was arrested?!  _ I don't think I understand this has to be a mistake! Right? Kara's...she's not a criminal. And who are those women with her?”

Alex shrugged, “I don't know Clark, I don't know anything dealing with Kara anymore. None of us do, and Lucy is gone, and now James is gone. No one knows where either of them ran off to. I think it's all just getting to be too much for her, and she won't listen to anything I say to her. She won't even answer my calls anymore.”

“ Alex...” Clark set the photos down on the coffee table, still not believing it, not until he talked to his cousin first, “I'm going to go see her, talk to her maybe.” he picked up his satchel and finally met Alex's gaze, “There has to be a reasonable explanation for this. A misunderstanding.”

“ I don't know Clark, I really wish I had some answers for you.” Alex cleared her throat softly, “She thinks we're all the enemy here, but we love her but she can't seem to see it. That's why I called you.”

“ I'll find her Alex and I'll talk to her, I promise.”

“ You can take those photos with you, Clark.”

Clark hastily thanked her and practically ran out of her apartment, slamming the door behind him harder than necessary but he was on a mission. So Alex didn’t mind too much.  _ This time. _

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_ Four hours.  _ Kara had four hours left before she went back to CatCo to tell Cat her decision. Four hours until her entire life changes. After her night with Lena and Regina, Kara was much more confident in her decision. By being the assistant of Cat Grant, Kara knew what she was going to be getting herself into—but talking to Regina last night, helped further enlighten her. Regina, being the former Queen and current Mayor of a non-existent town that she created for magical beings, gave her a lot to think about. The pro's and con's of the business world, how bridges are burned and new ones are formed in their wake.

And she also talked to Kara about more...personal things, after Lena excused herself to go to bed. It was embarrassing but it was more informative than Google by miles. (But it was still embarrassing).

Presently, Kara was standing in the middle of a junkyard, working off some steam against an old car hanging off of a hook. Thankfully the facility was closed, so the loud sounds of metal against fleshy steel fists weren’t attracting attention—other than scaring the birds. Kara was not only working off the hearty breakfast she shared with Lena, Regina and Emma—but she was also trying to shake off her nerves. Once she goes to CatCo and tells Cat what she's decided—everything was going to change, for better and for worse and there was no way around it. And the consequences? Well, Kara knew the risks. And she was ready to face every. (punch) Single. (left jab) One. (combo and a kick)

Kara straightened her stance, and blew a strand of hair out of her face as she shook the pieces of metal off of her hand. And she wasn't at all surprised when she heard the telltale sound of something, or rather someone, landing directly behind her. Kara huffed, and put another car on the hook, “Slow day in Metropolis, cousin?”

“ A little bit,” Kal-El approached his older cousin slowly, “It's been awhile since we last checked in, how are you?”

“ Alex called you.”

He sighed heavily, “She's just worried about you Kara.”

Kara stopped punching the car and turned around to her cousin, “Alex is hovering, Kal, but I'm fine. Really, I am, I promise.”

Kal-El pulled something from beneath his cape and handed it to Kara, “I'm worried about you too.”

“ Where did...”Kara took the three pages warily, gasping quite audibly when she saw them...including her mug shot where she was smiling like a half-wit, “Kal, I can explain—”

“ I think it's pretty self-explanatory, Kara!” he interrupted, his expression set in a deep frown, “Do you have any idea what this could do to us if someone saw this and made the connection to Supergirl? Or me, for that matter? You weren’t even wearing your glasses! What were you even thinking!?”

“ Kal, will you just listen—”

“ Don't you understand the risk of this? This could ruin me! Ruin  _ us, _ Kara. And I worked hard to keep us both safe!”

“ _ There is no us! There never was!”  _ Kara didn’t mean to scream at him. She didn’t mean to become so aggressive. She didn’t mean to reach out and push him back two feet and make him grunt with pain while rubbing at his chest. “I'm...I'm sorry.” she wasn't, but she felt as if she needed to say it and she couldn't really explain to herself why she felt that way.

“ You really are stronger than me,” Kal-El grumbled while he continued to rub at his chest, knowing that there were going to be two Kara sized hand prints there later, “Listen, Kara, I don't want to tell you how to live your life...”

“ Good, then don't. Because you can't anyway.” there it is again. That anger. It wasn't going to just go away, Kara knew, but sometimes...she wished it did. She could feel it's tentacles spreading around her, an extension of her and they were prepared to lash out.

“ But you need to be careful, alright?” he continued on as if she hadn’t even spoken, and stepped closer to her, “You have to be careful with everything Kara, in this life. Your friends, your co-workers...”

“ Family too, apparently,” Kara scoffed, and waved him away, “Some life then, huh? But you know what? For the first time since I've landed here,  _ my life has become very much real! _ I regret none of it.”

“ Jesus Christ, Kara—” he got closer and took her shoulders tightly, “You're being reckless right now! And it's time for you to cool down. Look, being a superhero isn’t for everyone, and it's okay, no one is going to hate or judge you if you just stop. I won't, I promise I won't! You're the last family I have left, and I don't want to see you burn out. No one wants to see you burn out or spiral out of control.”

Kara smiled up at her cousin tiredly, and a bit resentful of his assumptions, and accusations, “That's the thing, Kal...I'm not going to stop.”

“ Yes. Yes you are, and it's alright, Kara,” Superman pulled his older cousin into a tight hug, kissing her temple, “Listen to me, the fortress—”

“ No, Kal-El!” she shoved him off of her and decked him in the jaw out of reflex, making him land on his butt both in shock and in pain, “No, it is time that  _ you  _ listened  _ to me!  _ For once, someone is going to listen to me. And it's gonna start with you.”

Kal-El remained on the ground, staring up at her with his mouth open as the tense silence between the two hotter than the air around them. So hot and so tense that a butcher knife couldn't cut through it. Kal hasn’t seen Kara so angry before, not until the Red-K incident but it wasn't the same at this very moment. It was different; genuine and not so playful. She was standing over him, almost regal with her stance and tone—something he's never seen before. She finally released the breath she had been holding and took a step back and Kal-El felt his body relax but his mind, however, was still on high alert.

When Kara began to speak, her tone was quiet and steely, and their gazes locked, “We're family. We will always be family. But we're only family by blood, and that's something we should clear right here, right now. That is a fact you have made abundantly clear my entire life since I've arrived. You had the perfect life, right? The job, the woman, the ego stroking superhero side job. You were looked up to as a God here, weren’t you? But the moment I arrived on Earth...you knew that your special boy scout light would dim and you'd have to share. So you took me to a bunch of strangers and kept me locked away. A dirty little secret. You don't know how lonely I was. How I was bullied but I wasn't ever allowed to defend myself because I was afraid of myself.  _ Myself, Kal!  _ I was afraid to be great, because of the people you abandoned me with were afraid! They raised me to be afraid of my heritage! And that's your fault! That's what you  _ wanted!” _

“ No, Kara, no—”

“ I said  _ listen!” _ Kara snapped, unaware of her eyes growing hotter and tears spilling over her cheeks, idly she was wondering when she'd gotten so angry and just how long it's been brewing in her heart, “I am the heir of the House of El. Not you, not Alex and not  _ my  _ dead Aunt and Uncle. I am. I know our culture's history by heart, the language and customs are in my soul...yours is recited to you from a machine and you've just memorized it. Word for word.” Kara half scoffed, half laughed through her tears, “I was sent here to  _ teach  _ you, to raise and protect you! I was willing to give my life to make sure you had one. It's good to know the courtesy was mutual...” she said sarcastically, “and now here we are. Complete strangers.”

“ Kara please! It wasn't like that, cousin! I swear it wasn't!” By now Kal-El had tears in his eyes, and he pushed himself to his knees in front of her, “Please believe me, it wasn't like that.”

“ Then what was it like then, Clark?” she asked softly, wiping away her own tears with the palms of her hands, “Huh? Please, enlighten me. What excuse do you have now?”

“ I-I was scared—”

The anger lashed out once more, “And I wasn't?!” along with the screaming again, and Kara had to lock her knees to avoid kicking his sternum and breaking it. He was still being so selfish and making excuses and she was so sick of it, she was sick of everything. Sick of explaining herself over and over. She was so goddamn tired of pointing out everyone's wounding mistakes. She couldn't heal this way. She couldn't move forward while still fighting with the past and her demons. She needed to let it go.  _ She was done, _ “Get out.” she whispered, one hand on her hip and the other pointing to the skies towards Metropolis with her head bowed.

“ W-what?” but they both knew he heard her correctly, “Kara no, we need to talk about this—”

“ _ Get. Out.”  _ she hissed through clenched to keep her voice from wavering, and choking back her sobs, “Kal please, I don't wanna argue with you anymore. I can't. So just leave, alright?

“ _ Kara...” _

“ You  _ will  _ stay out of my city and I'll stay out of yours.”

The silence stretched on once again, this time with Kal-El struggling with his words—wishing he could say something to fix this, to say anything to fix it but he knew she was right. They both knew she was right. So he got to his feet and dusted off his tights. He paused again, now standing in front of her but staring straight ahead, “I'm sorry.”

“ Be sorry on your way out.”

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Lena was sitting in her home office drinking tea and going over a few financial reports for her many businesses across the country, when she heard heavy footsteps practically running up the stairs and down the hall to her location. She wasn't worried about intruders, only three people had unobstructed access to her home, and Regina and Emma went home over an hour ago. Lena set her tea mug down just as Kara came into her office and the smile on the Sorceress's face fell.

Kara looked like  _ hell,  _ her work out clothes were dirty as well as her exposed skin and it was glaringly obvious that she had been crying and her face was beat red with anger and her left knuckles were red. Lena jumped out of her chair and went to her friend, frantically checking the trembling woman for any injuries but the only thing that seemed to be truly hurt was her heart.

Lena felt something shift inside of her, and she cupped the blonde's face in her hands and kissed the tip of her nose softly,  _ wishing  _ she could kiss her lips, “What happened?”

“ I...I...Lena, I don't...He...he’s such a jerk.”

“ Breathe, honey, breathe.” Lena pulled Kara closer to her, “Breathe with me...yes. Yes, just like that...good girl. Good girl,” she whispered, forcing back her own tears—she's never felt Kara tremble like this before. She's never felt her anger, her sadness, and her heart spike this high. It both worried and angered her, and she was prepared to scratch out whoever did it, “Tell me what's wrong, Kara. Who’s a jerk?”

“It’s…” She couldn’t talk about him or anyone else right now. It was too much, and Kara's fists were threatening to tear through the fabric of Lena's robe if she held on any tighter, “I...I need...you, Lena. I need you.” she whispered.

Lena rubbed her upper back in small, smooth circles, “I'm here, whatever you need. Just say the word, honey and it's done.”

Kara pulled back, stepping out of Lena's embrace completely and meeting her gaze bravely, “I'm ready.”

Lena blinked, heart soaring but her expression remained calm, “Kara...”

“ I'm ready, Morgana, I promise I am. I...I spoke with Regina about it.” Kara began to fidget nervously under her gaze, but never broke eye contact, “I'm ready. I'm ready to let go.”

Lena shivered when she heard Kara whisper her name, and she wanted to hear it again, and again. And  _ again.  _ She took two steps back, “What time do you have to be at CatCo?”

“ Two hours.”

“ I have rules. A lot of them.” Lena warned, eyes narrowed.

“ I know. I'm ready.”

A moment of silence passed between then. Lena tilted her head back, “Safeword?”

“ Um...Flamebird.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clark, Kal-El, whoever the fuck he is...had it coming for a very, very long time. but he needs more. I've never liked him. The comics, animations, movies, tv. He's such a self-righteous dick.
> 
> Well, hope you all liked it!
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> C_S


	17. Run The World (Girls)

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Kara was ready. Her nerves were still jittery but after her rather extensive conversation with Lena...she was feeling better. She felt and looked confident as she park the SUV she borrowed from Lena, wearing a very expensive dress that fitted her body so perfectly, and so tightly that she wasn't sure if it was work appropriate but she knew that in her line of work—it was best to fit the part. CatCo didn’t just report the news all around the world, but CatCo also promoted top of the line fashion. And Kara figured that if she was going to take the reigns of CatCo in the near future, her work attire needed to get with the program as well. She would’ve much preferred to ride her bike to work everyday but she was well aware that she'd just have to pick and choose her days for that luxury now.

As Kara made her way through the lobby and to the elevator, she noticed and actively ignored the lingering stares directed her way. She was thankful the elevator was empty because she need to adjust the dress in the back. Lena was very thorough with making sure that Kara had herself in check and was ready to face Cat Grant and the new chapter in her life—but she just wished that the fabric of the dress didn’t remind her how sore her bottom with every step she took.

The moment the elevator slowed to a stop, Kara took a deep breath and the moment the doors opened—she wasn't Kara Danvers, Cat Grant's former meek assistant, but Kara Zor-El...Cat's soon to be protégé. The normal chatter on the floor quieted down to hushed whispers as Kara strutted by with her held high until she walked into Cat's office and closed the double glass doors behind her quietly. When the current CEO looked up, she had to do a double take and set her salad fork down—eying Kara's outfit approvingly.

Cat rose from her plush chair and rounded her desk, eyebrows raised with curiosity, “You look beautiful, Kara.”

Kara blushed at the compliment and did a double take when she heard her name being properly pronounced. Cat only did that when she was being serious in a moment, “Thank you, Ms. Grant.”

“ I believe we're past the formalities, call me Cat. We are going to be partners after all, or am I wrong?”

Kara shook her head, curls bouncing gently and licking her lips, “No, Ms.... _ Cat, _ ” that was definitely going to take some getting used to, “I'm nervous, but I  _ am  _ accepting your proposal. I think that it would be a good change in my life.”

Cat nodded, studying the younger woman sitting on her office sofa carefully, but proudly. The older woman straightened from the edge of her desk, and beckoned Kara to follow her out to the balcony. “While you were out soul searching for answers, I've been quite busy preparing CatCo for it's second in command CEO; you.” Kara followed Cat to the end of the balcony, becoming even more confused when they approached a set of concrete steps instead of the wall that was usually there. “It cost a few pretty pennies to have this done in three days, but I do hope you like it Kara. Everything was designed and installed with you in mind.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs and were onto another balcony...a balcony that was just as big as Cats, and led into an office that was very similar to the one upstairs that belonged to Cat but this one wasn't decorated just yet. Just had a desk, with a comfortable looking black executive chair and a a dozen little TV's behind the desk in similar fashion to Cat's but in addition there were two plasma TV's on the remaining two walls. The front wall was made of glass so that the entire floor could be seen but it was empty, void of any employees.

Cat stood to the side and allowed Kara to take everything in, the new smell of the office, the open canvas that was hers to do whatever she pleased...the responsibility and the freedom that Cat was giving to her. Because she trusted Kara. She  _ believed  _ in Kara. CatCo was Cat Grant's legacy, her empire...one of her  _ greatest  _ accomplishments. And to trust Kara with it all...it was quite the message. The overwhelming feelings that came with that realization made Kara's eyes water but she reigned in her tears, knowing the older woman's rule about tears at the workplace...plus her make-up wasn't waterproof.

Apparently Kara wasn't the only one who was nervous, because the silence stretched far too long for Cat's comfort, “Do you like it?”

Kara turned around and hugged the woman, ignoring the way she tensed for a beat before returning the hug just as tightly, “I love it, Cat,  _ thank you. _ ” they both knew that Kara was thanking her for more than just giving her, her own office.

Cat cleared her throat and moved out of Kara's embrace and went to the dark oak desk and picked up a white remote, “This remote controls everything in your office from the TV to the lights to the water pressure in your executive bathroom suite shower...very similar to the one in my own office except there is a new added feature. You press this blue little button, and ta-da...all the privacy you need just in case.” Kara's eyebrows rose in surprise as the glass walls suddenly went dark, like a black screen, she could still see out but she knew that whoever was outside would never be able to see in. “And if you need to step out for...whatever, just press the red button and it’ll send an alert to my office to let me know that you’ve stepped out to do whatever you millennials do. And press it again when you're back.”

Kara blinked in awe, “Cat...this is...this amazing. I can't believe...wow. You did all this for me? But...but what if I had said no?”

Cat just smiled serenely, “You didn’t, and that is all that matters. Now, tell me have you eaten lunch yet?” Kara shook her head, taken back by the random question but the mention of food had her stomach howling embarrassingly loud and Cat just smiled, “Care to join me for some pasta and bread-sticks? And maybe some dessert?”

“ You're paying right?”

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Apparently Cat had did more than just call ahead and make reservations for two at the exclusive Italian restaurant in the heart of downtown National City because whatever food that Kara ordered, it was double the normal size and it was  _ so good.  _ Almost too good and Kara had to focus on eating with style and not like she was at home—it was hard but she was managing just fine. The restaurant was filled with executives and politicians and normally Kara would feel uncomfortable in such a crowd, actually  _ she still did,  _ but now...it was a little different. She couldn't explain it, but it was as if she jumped over a fence of some kind. The conversation between her and Cat flowed easily without delving into sensitive topics and getting too personal. It was nice.

“ So,” Cat started as their waiter left after she refilled Cat's wine glass and Kara's water, “I am giving you five whole days to get your staff together, and decorate your office however you please. Just make sure that it's tasteful.”

“ What do you mean by my staff? Is that why the office floor was empty?”

Cat nodded and took a savory sip of her wine, “Yes. You'll handpick each and every employee you want on your floor. That will be your personal staff. And I suggest you begin your interviews for two assistants as soon as possible.”

Kara blinked, tearing off a piece of bread, “Two? Why would I need two? You never had two.”

“ I'm not a superhero.” Cat said under her breath, but Kara heard her clear as day, “You were my assistant for three years, can you honestly sit there and tell me that one assistant will be enough for you on top of your bad habit for disappearing at a moment's notice? Why do you think my assistant turnover rate was higher than the moon.”

Kara snorted, feeling a little bold around the older woman and Cat returned the smile with a wink, “It's going to be a busy couple of months, isn’t it?”

“ Only until everyone settles into their new roles, and you get your schedules in sync, yes it's going to be busy and hard...and often it _ will  _ feel impossible, but it’ll smooth itself out.” Cat hesitated for a moment, “Will you be okay with a press conference?”

“ A...what? A press conference? Why?”

“ CatCo will have two CEO's. The employees will talk and I'd rather we get the news out first before it's all over the tabloids.” Cat set her wine glass down and leaned forward on the table and lowered her voice, “Kara, I do understand how risky it is for you to have  _ both  _ sides of your life in the spotlight. Especially if you plan on using your given surname for the rest of your days. So I will ask you again,” without breaking eye contact, Cat reached down into her purse and pulled out a contract and a fancy pen made of pure gold and slid the items across the table, “Do you accept this proposal?”

Kara picked up the pen, staring down at the thick stack of papers. She didn’t need to read it, she knew it word for word...she was there with the legal team when it was made for James Olsen not too long ago. She thought about the Danvers, and her cousin, and the DEO—what it could all mean if she signed the contract. The risk of everything, the irresponsibility of her doing so—it was risk, and it could be a mess. And it was a horrible idea. A horrible,  _ horrible idea. _

_ And she's never signed her name so beautifully before... _ maybe that's because Kara Zor-El looked a hell of a lot better on paper than Kara Danvers ever will.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Natasha plopped down on the sofa next to her wife, snuggling into her side as she took a sip of her beer and began to channel surf while their dog was snoring peacefully on the floor right beneath the TV.

Maria shifted slightly so that she was more comfortable but otherwise didn’t take her eyes off of her task on the tablet, “Nat?”

“ Yeah babe?”

“ How do you feel if I got a job?” Maria continued the moment she felt her wife tense, “Just hear me out...it's in the city, a normal eight to five, Monday through Friday job. Admin work, nothing strenuous I promise.” Maria exhaled heavily, “I can't take being stuck in this house all day, it's driving me crazy and I need something to do. And no, I refuse to work online so don't even go there.”

Natasha remained silent, taking another swig of her beer and Maria knew her wife well enough to wait her out while she sorted through her thoughts. But they both knew that once Maria set her mind to it, she was going to do it. “What and where is it?”

“ Assistant to the CEO of CatCo.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet, and I wonder who Kara is going to hire as assistant no. 1 and no. 2, I think you will all be pleased with who I bring into the fold. Next chapter will be Lena and Kara! And some pretty cute fluff! Also, some magic tricks too.
> 
> PS-the title...I was bumpin that so hard that it prompted me to write this right then and there. Kara's theme music when she stepped out the car, lmfao. I'm sorry, I'm a Yonce stan to the core. Alright bye for now!
> 
> C_S


	18. Scared Of Lonely ( I Need Your Strength)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a Lena/Kara filled chapter

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_ Previously... _

“ _ Breathe, honey, breathe.” Lena pulled Kara closer to her, “Breathe with me...yes. Yes, just like that...good girl. Good girl,” she whispered, forcing back her own tears—she's never felt Kara tremble like this before. She's never felt her anger, her sadness, and her heart spike this high. It both worried and angered her, and she was prepared to scratch out whoever did it, “Tell me what's wrong, Kara.” _

_ Kara's fists threatened to tear through the fabric of Lena's robe if she held on any tighter, breathing heavily into her shoulder, “I...I need...you, Lena. I need you.” she whispered. _

_ Lena rubbed her upper back in small, smooth circles, “I'm here, whatever you need. Just say the word, honey and it's done.” _

_ Kara pulled back, stepping out of Lena's embrace completely and meeting her gaze bravely, “I'm ready.” _

_ Lena blinked, heart soaring but her expression remained calm, “Kara...” _

“ _ I'm ready, Morgana, I promise I am. I...I spoke with Regina about it.” Kara began to fidget nervously under her gaze, but never broke eye contact, “I'm ready. I'm ready to let go.” _

_ Lena shivered when she heard Kara whisper her name, and she wanted to hear it again, and again. And again. She took two steps back, “What time do you have to be at CatCo?” _

“ _ Two hours.” _

“ _ I have rules. A lot of them.” Lena warned, eyes narrowed. _

“ _ I know. I'm ready.” _

_ A moment of silence passed between then. Lena tilted her head back, “Safeword?” _

“ _ Um...Flamebird.” _

_ Lena nodded, eyes never leaving Kara's as she stepped back until she was able to sit on the edge of her desk, “You will address me as Morgana, do you understand?” _

“ _ Yes. Yes Morgana.” Kara quickly amended when Lena's lips pursed and her eyebrow raised slightly, _

“ _ Would you like to do this here, or in my red-room?” _

“ _ Here is fine, Morgana.” _

_ The sorceress nodded and conjured something up into her hand with a flourish of soft golden smoke, and when it cleared, Kara gasped softly. In the brunette's hand lay a simple but beautifully crafted steel collar with a single d-ring, “Kneel for me, darling.” _

_ Morgana smiled when Kara did so without hesitating and unable to take her eyes off the collar resting in her hand. Kara kneeled with both knees on the floor with her hands flat on top of her thighs and her back was straight. It made the Sorceress curious where Kara learned such a submissive position, wondering if she was just a natural or if her time on the internet was just very educational—along with her long talk with her sister that neither of them were aware that she knew about. Using her magic, Morgana sent the collar across the room until it was at eye level with the kneeling Kryptonian. _

“ _ I want you to put that on, but be warned Kara...once you put on my collar, it is sealed by magic. And only I can take it off, and I will not until I am finished with you. Or if you choose to use your safe word if you become overwhelmed.” when Kara reached for the collar, Morgana made sure she couldn't remove it from thin air, and waited until blue eyes met green, “Do you trust me?” _

“ _ Yes, Morgana.” _

“ _ And can I trust you to be honest with me?” _

_ Kara swallowed, silent for only a beat before nodding, “Yes, Morgana.” _

_ Morgana finally allowed Kara to take the steel collar and shivered when the blonde opened it and placed it around her slender and blemish free neck. And Morgana felt the control Kara so freely gave up to her, coarse through her veins as the collar magically locked in place and fitted itself around Kara's throat until it was nice and snug. “Good girl,” the next item that was in Morgana's hand was a riding crop and Kara's eyes widened slightly, she knew that the brunette's hand alone could ignite a fire deep in her belly, but the riding crop would ignite much more she was sure, “Now, darling, do you want to tell me what and who is bothering your emotional balance or would you like me to release that tension in your shoulders first?” _

_ Kara blinked slowly, before lowering her gaze to the floor—unable or perhaps just unwilling to speak about her cousin or her sister just yet, afraid that she would blow another gasket and the last thing she wanted was to destroy the Sorceress's home. Again. Just thinking about those two made her blood boil with frustration and she didn’t know what to do with it, but Morgana seemed to sense her internal dilemma and made the decision for her. _

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Lena was startled out of her thoughts by her cell phone that began buzzing in her hand, and she had nearly sent the thing flying across the room. She glanced at the screen and saw that it was just Regina.

“Hello dearest sister of mine that has burned many villages to find her True Love,” and smiling broadly as she could practically hear her sister's eye roll that accompanied her sigh.

“ _ Must you always bring up the past, Lena?” _

“Only when it amuses me, but really, what do I owe the pleasure?”

“ _ Today is Kara's big day, correct?” _

If at all possible, Lena's smile grew as her thoughts once again strayed to her little blonde that was zipping around the city somewhere, remembering the mess that Kara was when she arrived versus the thriving young woman she was destined to be when she left Lena's care, “Yes, I haven’t heard from her yet but I have a feeling that everything is going well for her. She had come by earlier seeking some last minute advice, she was more nervous than Emma was when she had to tell her mother she was dating you.”

Regina snorted over the line,  _ “I thought Emma would pass out the moment I rang the doorbell, poor thing nearly bounced her leg off the night before—but of course I ironed out those nerves with a few well placed licks from my favorite whip. Dragon's skin is tougher than it looks, you know.” _

“I can imagine.”

“ _ I take that you had to do the same for my favorite little puppy? You didn’t push her too hard did you?” _

Now it was Lena's turn to roll her eyes, “Of course I did  _ mother  _ I beat her until she was black and blue all over.”

Regina tsked,  _ “I'm quite fond of her, Lena. Despite her and Emma's shortcomings when it comes to staying out of trouble...I've taken great care to make sure that there will not be a repeat of the other night. Would you like me to do the same for Kara, dear?” _

Lena knew,  _ she knew,  _ her sister was baiting her for information—baiting her by pushing her buttons, and Lena hated herself for being so easy, “Don't worry about how I punished Kara, Regina. I've taken care of it, and that is all you need to know.”

“ _ Oh, touchy touchy sister. You know I would never lay a leather clad finger on Kara...unless she asked for it.”  _ Regina purred quietly over the phone, biting her lip to keep from laughing as she watched her sister through her Magic Mirror.

“Regina.  _ Stop it. _ ” Lena growled, eyes flashing and her back straightening. She knew her sister was only pulling her chain, but Lena's small insecurity was still there and Regina knew it. It was simple payback for all the times Lena pushed  _ her  _ buttons. “What the hell do you want, Regina?  _ I was busy.” _

“ _ Busy daydreaming about bending Kara over the bench and—” _

“Regina!”

“ _ Fine, don't get your panties in a bunch Morgana. Emma and I want to invite you and Kara over for dinner to celebrate Kara's new promotion. Dinner starts at seven if neither of you have any plans that is.” _

Lena checked her watch, it's been a little over two hours since she'd last seen or heard from Kara but dinner at Regina's was still hours away, “I'm not sure at this moment, but I will ask Kara and we will let you know. What's on the menu?”

“ _ Whatever Kara would like, it is her night after all.” _

Lena nodded, “I'll text her then and I will let you know in the next hour, hopefully.”

“ _ Thank you, dear.” _

“Regina, you have Kara's number...why didn’t you just call and ask her?”

“ _ Always go through the chain of command.” _

Lena smirked, “Good answer,  _ dear. _ ” her smirk turned into a laugh when Regina scoffed and hung up without offering a retort or even saying goodbye. Lena set the phone aside and stood from her spot on the sofa, stretching and popping her bones. She was a little hungry and was making her way to her kitchen for a snack when the door to her garage opened and shut loudly and she was suddenly having an armful of Kryptonian talking a mile a minute excitedly. The force of Kara's impact should have knocked any normal human through the wall, and or shattered all of their bones beyond repair—but for Lena, it was only enough to make her stumble but not fall.

“—so then Cat took me to lunch and explained everything to me! Lena my office was so gorgeous and it looks exactly like Cat's but  _ better!  _ And there's this little button that dims the glass so I can hero up and—”

Lena chuckled softly, hands settling on Kara's waist, (and she couldn't help but appreciate the tight dress Kara was wearing and how close the were standing, sharing the same oxygen), “ _ Hero up,  _ honey? I knew I shouldn't have let you watch that silly hero super-squad cartoon. Now it's gone to your head.”

“What the Squaddies _? _ ” Kara blushed but her eyes were bright with excitement, far better from the turmoil they were showing hours earlier, “You love that show just as much as I do.”

“And if you tell anyone, I'll have to hurt you.”

“Been there, done that.” Kara replied without thinking but the moment she realized what she said, she froze up and made to apologize but Lena just shook her head, eyes and tone soft.

“No harm no foul, but how are you doing? Are you really okay? We didn’t get a chance to really talk afterward.”

“I'm fine.” Kara shrugged, eyes everywhere but on Lena until the brunette removed one hand from her waist and guided Kara until she met Lena's gaze once more. Lena studied the young woman in front of her for a few beats then took her hand and lead her back into the living room, her hunger forgotten for the moment. She sat the down on the sofa and waited until Kara kicked off her high heels and got as comfortable as she could. Lena would’ve offered more comfortable clothes but she kept her mouth firmly shut on that topic, she wanted to enjoy the view for a little while longer. Lena scooted closer until the there nearly on top of each other and crossed her legs at the knee—her leg nearly over Kara's possessively.

“I want to tell you first, Kara, that I am so proud of you. For doing what you want, and thinking big. Taking charge of a multibillion empire, no matter how partial, takes heart and courage. Something you have plenty of, and I know that you will excel more than you believe. It will take time, and a lot of mistakes but learn from them—and you will be a force to reckon with. You will do yourself, Cat Grant and CatCo proud.”

“And you?”

Lena smiled, and kissed the back of Kara's knuckles, “Baby, I'm already proud of you.”

Kara's blush returned but she didn’t duck her head this time, and Lena saw that as a good sign to continue into deeper topics, but first before she got distracted and forgot; “Regina called a few minutes ago before you came in...would you like to have dinner with them tonight? To celebrate your promotion? It's perfectly okay to say no, too.”

Kara considered the invitation, while she would like nothing more than to just cuddle in bed with Lena and eat whatever was in the kitchen—the idea of getting a full course meal made from scratch at Regina's hand had her practically salivating, “I'm in.”

“Is there anything you'd like to eat tonight then?”

Another pause, “Um, I don't know? Surprise me?”

Lena nodded and quickly pulled out her phone to text Regina, and while Lena was busy doing that Kara took that opportunity to run out of the room and upstairs to Lena's master bedroom to get undressed. When she came back down at human speed, Lena had already gotten up to fix them both a bowl of assorted fruit and was sitting in the corner of the the sofa with a throw blanket and was browsing through the TV channels. She nearly choked on a melon piece when Kara entered the room wearing one of her large night shirts and no pants. The shirt barely brushing the top of her tanned thighs and Lena didn’t say anything when Kara moved the blanket aside she just moved the bowl and shifted around to make room for Kara until they were both comfortable and could see the TV. Kara was half sitting half laying on Lena with her back pressed against the brunette's front, and between her legs with the blanket over their bare legs and the bowl now sitting in Kara's lap.

Both women were content with sitting in comfortable silence and watching the tail end of some western movie with Lena alternating between feeding herself fruit, and feeding some to Kara when she actually opened her mouth to accept the product. It was only when the movie was over and they were waiting for the next one to start when Kara spoke.

“Lena?”

“Hmm?”

“May I wear your collar again?”

_ Interesting,  _ “May I ask why, darling?” Lena would ever deny Kara anything, ever, but she was simply curious and this was her opportunity to ask Kara the questions that have been nagging at her all damn day—and maybe it would snuff out that murderous fire that was still burning at the bottom of her heart.

Kara shifted slightly, turning onto her side just a bite and moving the bowl so it didn’t fall. And since she was wearing a thong, Lena could feel the bare skin of her derriere on her own leg and it made it hard for her to think clearly. And she knew that eventually Kara would be the death of her, if she wasn't already.

“I liked wearing it.”

“Yeah?” Lena kept her eyes on the TV, and popped another piece of fruit into her mouth, feigning indifference as if they were just talking about the weather, “What did you like about wearing it specifically?”

“I don't think I understand the question?”

“Oh, but I think you do.” Lena fed Kara a grape, then sucked the juice from her thumb, “Was it the color? The feel of the steel against your warm skin?” she prompted gently, though still keeping her tone light.

Kara stared at the TV for a while, but her eyes were unfocused, “I liked the way it made me feel.” the TV filled in the silence after that quiet statement, until Kara felt the courage to continue voicing her thoughts, “Giving you that control, it made me feel safe. Safer than I do in my own skin, and I'm bulletproof. I gave you something that I've never given anyone else—I gave you my trust. All of it, and it scared me.”

“Are you still scared?” Lena inquired, nearly whispering as she buried her free hand in those golden locks she adored so much.

“Not in the way I was before—I know I’ve only worn it once, but when I was wearing your collar...I felt as if you set me free. In that moment, I felt what it was like to feel and to breathe...it felt so good it hurt. And when you were...I just...I felt you  _ everywhere.  _ On the surface of my skin, and beneath it and I didn’t want it to stop. I felt as if I were floating and when you removed it, it felt as if I were taken from a dream...and that I was taken from you. I felt everything rushing back, but it wasn't as overwhelming as it was before. I mean it still is...but it's...different now.”

“Different how, baby?”

“Because I’ve finally found my outlet. You set me free, Lena, and I would very much like it if we could...continue. If-if you want that is...” Kara raised her head slightly to gauge Lena's reaction but was surprised find the woman holding up her collar and with a small, mysterious smile. Kara reached for it, eyes darting back to Lena as if asking for permission and Lena just nodded. Watching as Kara slipped the item around her neck and just like earlier they both trembled when the collar settled in place but this time Lena was able to feel Kara's physical reaction. The alien, who had been holding most of her weight, was now fully relaxed against the Sorceress's body. And though Kara seemed to weigh more than she appeared, Lena welcomed the weight and magicked the empty bowl back to the kitchen and wrapped her arms around the blonde and sank further into the throw pillows.

Lena felt Kara's foot slid down over her calve until it met her foot and wiggle her toes against hers and she smiled sleepily, and moved her leg until she had Kara's body trapped not that the girl was complaining—the only complaint Kara would have is if the city suddenly decided to have a bunch of crimes that the police or the DEO couldn't handle on their own. Lena fell asleep first, with Kara following closely behind her. Their strong and steady heartbeats beating as one.

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_ Three or four hours later... _

Lena was fucking  _ hot.  _ Eyes snapping open, Lena looked around to make sure that the house was on fire and they were sleeping through it (and it has been proven that both Kara and Lena can be the heaviest of sleepers when they wanted to). But no everything was in order and the TV was still, playing another western movie with a lot of shooting and the setting sun was burning orange judging by the reflection on her walls and paintings.

So the only logical explanation was that Kara's body heat was getting to be a bit much for her, but Lena wouldn't dare dislodge the blonde—Kara was curled into her body with her face pressed into her neck, and snoring softly. The brunette thought of a simple cooling spell and cast it quickly over their bodies and immediately felt relief.

Of course if she were being completely honest, Kara's body heat as only part of the issue—the dream Lena was having before hand was the real culprit behind her discomfort but she couldn't exactly do anything about  _ that.  _ Lena laid there for a few moments, scrolling through her phone checking her emails and responding to texts from her sister about the dinner menu. Lena's thoughts were still on the very vivid dream she was having and she was thankful that it didn’t spill out into the real world—she may have the ultimate control over her sorcerous but even the best slip every now and then. But she knew she should be keeping such thoughts on a tight leash.  _ For now. _

Lena finally put down her phone when Kara finally began to stir and it was perfect timing too, they only had two hours left until they had to go to Regina's. Not that it would take them long to get to there, but at this point in their friendship (...or relationship...the Sorceress was still in the dark about that), she knew that Kara was extremely slow when it came to picking an outfit. Super-speed or no super-speed. Kara sat up and smiled down at Lena with a sleepy smile.

“Hi.”

“Evening, sweetheart, did you have a nice nap?”

Kara nodded, and laid back down and Lena could help but think about how adorable she was, “Yeah, I didn’t realize how tired I was until I laid down. Nothing disastrous happened while I was asleep?”

“Not that I am aware, and if there were any disturbances that needed your immediate attention I'm quite certain your sister would have called you by now.” Lena threw that out there so casually, that Kara missed the fact that it was done on purpose and she reacted quietly but Lena had been watching her like a hawk and saw the shadow that passed over her features before it disappeared completely.

“Hm, I suppose so.”

“Are you two fighting again?”

“We never stopped.”

_ I see... _ “Does your earlier distress have anything to do with your sister?”

Kara shrugged, she didn’t particularly want to talk about the lousy part of her day—but she knew she didn’t exactly have a choice. She owed Lena that much, plus she was wearing her collar. She momentarily forgot that she had asked for the item before going to sleep wrapped in Lena's embrace but she had no idea how to start. So she sat up again, and scooted back a little so that Lena could get up as well. When Kara showed no signs of answering and was preparing to get up, Lena reached out and hooked her finger in the d-ring and pulled her closer.

“Kara, tell me what happened earlier that had you a mess. And don't you dare lie to me, this is for you Kara and holding it in will only make this harder for you in the long run.”

Kara sighed, eyes lowering because she knew Lena was right. “Alex called my cousin.”

“I see, and you weren’t too happy about that were you?”

“No...it just makes me so  _ mad  _ when people call him because they don't believe in me. It's not the first time he's been called to 'save me from myself'. James called him once when I was going up against some dude who nearly killed my cousin. James thought I was weaker than Kal-El and called him behind my back.”

“I can imagine how angry you must have been when you discovered that he did that, despite his heart being in the right place.”

“He should have trusted me.”

“Is that anger the same anger you felt when Alex called your cousin?” Lena inquired gently, eyes searching.

“I...I don't know. But I...I hit him. I hit him so hard I thought I broke my hand...and his jaw. I was j-just so  _ angry,  _ Morgana. What right did he have to put his two cents into my life? What right does Alex have?! She...she thinks that I owe her something but I don't! And-and that she can tell me how I should live my life, but she can't!”

“Kara, please remember to breathe,” they both knew that she didn’t have to, but it was in her best interest if she did.

Kara wrapped her hands around the hand that was holding her collar and used it to anchor herself, and Lena looked down at Kara's knuckles—she must have hit him hard for the bruises to still be present, “When I came to you...I was afraid of myself more than anything.”

“Why? What happened after you left this house this morning?”

And so Kara explained the events leading up to her break-down after she left Lena's home, and her conversation with Kal-El, word for word. And by the time she was done, she hadn’t even realized angry tears had spilled over until Lena wiped them away with her free hand.

“This thing with your sister,” the brunette started, “it's going to end quite badly if you don't settle your differences.”

“But...I can't, Morgana,  _ I can't!” _

“And  _ why not?” _

“Because every time I think about Alex, I wanna hit her like I hit Kal-El! And we both know that I can't do that!” Kara cried, and she tried to pull away from Morgana but the woman held firm.

“Don't let that anger turn into hate, Kara. It's not healthy, believe me when I say that it will destroy you faster than Kryptonite ever will.” from her experience, Lena knew that if Kara continued to quietly hold in her anger and her hurt, she'd become dangerous. Dangerous like Regina, who expressed her hurt, and fear and frustration in blatant anger and terrorized the entire Enchanted Forest. Lena refused to allow Kara to go down that path, because she wasn't sure if she could talk down another 'Evil Queen'. Not that Kara was cable of casting a curse the size of a freaking continent, but Kara possessed enough anger to take over one. All she needed was the right motive to go off the deep-end and Lena would do anything to make sure she  _ never _ found it. “You don't have to forgive her, I'm not saying that you have to forgive her—all I am asking is that you should settle your differences and move on. And you're worried about knocking your sisters lights out? Do it.”

“What?!”

“I have magic darling, I can help you reign in that mighty strength of yours without poisoning you.”

“Do I have to do it tonight?” Kara tried not to whine, but she couldn't help herself—she just wanted food and to end her day on a good note with the people who really and truly understood and cared for her.

Lena smiled, leaning forward and kissing Kara's forehead before releasing her and poofing away the collar, “Of course not, and don't think we're done talking about this. But for now, let's get dressed. Regina doesn’t like tardiness.”

Kara checked the time on the TV and saw that it was almost seven, “We're gonna be late anyway.”

“Not quite,” Lena stood and offered Kara her hand, “How do you feel about finally visiting Storybrooke?”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive the mistakes, because I'm sure they are there...somewhere. Oh well.
> 
> Anyway, I just started writing and couldn't stop, and even now, I wanted to keep it going, but I decided break it into two chapters. Dinner time is next, and some other things. 
> 
> I'm thinking smut is coming soon, in a unique way. Hopefully you will all like it, I sorta gave a hint of what is to come in later chapters. ;) Thanks for reading!
> 
> Cerberus


	19. Welcome To Storybrooke (Dinner Time)

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The moment Regina opened her front door she had an armful of Kryptonian puppy full of jubilance, stumbling back a few steps but she welcomed Kara with open arms. Regina kissed the girl's cheek lovingly before releasing her to get a better look at Kara, feeling as if it had been entirely too long since she has last seen her sisters girlfriend (well future girlfriend, because the two women ). Regina smiled, and hugged Kara again and discreetly giving Lena a thumbs up. Kara looked better than the last time Regina has seen the Kryptonian. Not at her best, but her healing was slowly progressing and starting to show. There was a light in Kara's eye that Regina's never seen before and she rather liked seeing it there, and she would help Lena fight to keep it there. Even if that meant crushing someone's heart. A act of cruelty she hasn’t done in two decades.

When Kara hugged Regina, it didn’t feel as if she was hanging onto a lifeline and she wasn't crying—oh yes, Regina would do anything within her power to make sure that everything in Kara's world remained calm and undisturbed, and she was willing to bet that Emma would too.  _ Speaking of... _

When Regina pulled away, she stepped aside to let her guests into her home and out of sight from the nosy residents of Storybrooke. No doubt they’d be gossiping about the new blonde in town and having dinner at the Mills resident. They didn’t have anything better to do with their lives anyway since they were forbidden to leave, but that was a story for another time and with that thought, Regina closed and locked the door soundly.

“ I was expecting you two to be a little late, I'm running a bit behind schedule...but Kara, dear, I promise dinner will be ready in the next thirty minutes.” Regina smirked as Kara blushed when her stomach whined at the news of dinner not yet being ready, and Lena just kissed her cheek fondly, “Emma is upstairs in the game room, if you want to join her?”

Kara nodded, “Sure, thank you Regina and I'm sorry for not dressing up,” Kara gestured to her gray under armor sweatpants, and her red shirt and the chopsticks holding her bun together, “I was told to just be comfortable—”

“ And are you?”

“ Yes,”

“ Then you're fine, dear. Upstairs down the hall and to the right, have fun and try not to break the TV.”

Kara rolled her eyes good naturedly and took off, though she heard Lena mumble something about not getting a goodbye kiss, and quickly doubled back to correct her mistake and she was gone again with Regina's loud laughter following behind her as the two sisters went into the kitchen. Kara found Emma easily enough, she just followed the sounds of loud gunfire and cursing. As she walked down the hallway, she took the time to take in Regina and Emma's home and it was gorgeous. It had touches of Regina everywhere with splashes of Emma and Kara thought it was a lovely combination. The two women complimented each other in every way possible and it was kind of adorable. When Kara entered the game room she was blown away by how  _ cool  _ it was. It didn’t have beer signs all over the wall or anything but rather  _ Grand Theft Auto  _ posters and maps, and other game posters and across the room there was a wall case full of bluray movies and video games for the various game consoles beneath the large TV that almost took up the entire wall. The sofa was tasteful, was leather and had cup holders and reclined as well.

“ Kara!” Emma paused the game and set her controller on the coffee table and stood to greet her friend with a tight hug, “It's about time you got here, I could use some backup.”

“ I can try, what game are you playing?” Kara pulled back after Emma delivered a few solid pats on her back but thankfully the dragon was starting to realize that while Kara could take the impact, magic still hurt—and the last thing Emma wanted to do was hurt her friend.

“ Grand Theft Auto IV. I'm playing online but I can exit and we can create your character.”

“ Oh! You taught me how to play this game at Lena's...I like it.”

“ The fact that you're a superhero and like playing this game, and I've  _ seen  _ the way you play this game—worries me.”

Kara took the offered controller, and smiled at her friend innocently (and it only made Emma more suspicious), “It's not like I know how to use a grenade launcher in real life, Emma.”

The dragon sat next to the alien, pleased that Emma was able to navigate through the menu on her own, “Okay point for you, but it worries me that you launch them in crowded areas.”

Kara looked at her friend, slightly confused, “Isn't that how the game works? It's supposed to be violent.”

“ Well...yeah,” Emma shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck, “But...I don't wanna hear about you launching grenades in National City because you lost your shit, and blame it on me and this stupid game. What? It's not funny, Kara! Lena will kill me if this game influenced you to be crazy!”

“ Emma!” Kara nearly shouted through her giggles, “It's just a video game. I'm the future CEO for  _ the  _ biggest media company on this planet. I know all about video games and their influences, but trust me. If I wanted to wreck havoc on this planet, do you really think I'd need a grenade launcher?”

The dragon snorted, and picked up her beer, “Fair point, a scary one, but fair.”

“ What brought on that, Emma?”

“ I dunno, I saw on the news this morning how some depressed kid in Australia shot up a mall and plead insanity. He said this game made him do it...and I know you're going through some things, and I just wanted to check in with you.”

It was in that moment that Kara realized that, that was a weird, Emma type of way of saying that she cared about Kara and her health and happiness. Not that the younger woman wasn't already aware but it was touching to see it on display in such a unique way. Kara suspected that Emma kept her cards close to heart and that she didn’t show such emotions like that very often and she felt honored—she felt like family. The same warm, butterfly like feeling in her stomach that she felt downstairs when Regina hugged her not once but freaking twice! It was a far cry from their first meeting in the parking lot of Lena's bar.

Kara didn’t say anything though, she had a feeling that Emma wouldn't appreciate it and would just be a grouch about it and ruin the moment, so Kara just finished her character with a black cowgirl hat and off into the game they went.

Neither were sure how long they sat in the game room, terrorizing the other online gamers. They didn’t really talk much other than to curse at the game—which was mostly just Emma. The smell of home cooked food had both Emma and Kara's stomach growling and clenching almost painfully, and Kara was so hungry she was starting to feel sick. She couldn't take it anymore, she set the controller down and used her super speed to run downstairs and into the kitchen but she ran into a solid body and sent Lena back a couple of steps and they were nose to nose.

“ Hi Lena! Is the food ready because I am so hungry.” as if to back up this fact, her stomach made another whale call and the two brunette's in the kitchen laughed.

Lena placed her hands on Kara's waist, just beneath her shirt, “I was just coming upstairs to get you and Emma, dinners ready so go have a seat at the table and  _ don't  _ touch anything.”

“ Okay.”

“ Kara I mean it, don't touch anything.”

“ _ Okay.” _

When Lena was absolutely sure she could trust her Kryptonian  _ not  _ girlfriend, she let her go and stepped aside. But the moment Kara stepped into the dinning room, she just couldn't help herself, she sat down near the head of the table and picked up a garlic roll and took a huge bite.

“ _ Kara!” _

“ What! I'm an alien, Lena, an alien that needs ten thousand calories to live!” Kara was immediately on the defense and stuffed the rest of the roll in her mouth,  _ “I haf needfs!” _

Lena rolled her eyes but she was smiling so Kara knew that she wasn't mad or at least being serious when she told Kara not to touch anything. Regina made a whipping sound as she snapped her fingers and brought Emma down to the table right across from Kara. The dragon looked a little annoyed but she got over it the moment she saw the food spread across the table. Lena sat next to her as her sister filled everyone's wine glass and raised her own, and everyone followed suit, “To Kara...congrats on getting the job you're already doing!”

“ Regina, seriously?”

“ Hear, hear!”

Kara laughed and shook her head at her friends, “You guys are the best, thank you.”

“ Anytime, kid. You earned it, and so much more.” Emma said as she stacked her plate, “Besides, what are friends for anyway?”

Kara looked down at her plate. She was smiling but her heart was weighing a little heavy, she loved that she got this with the friends she got to choose for once in her life, but a small part of her wished that her old friends and Alex could share this with her as well. She didn’t feel guilty for leaving them out of her personal and professional life—Rao knows they often left her out of theirs, she just wished...she just wished things could have been different.

As if sensing her thoughts, Lena reached over and squeezed her hand causing Kara to meet her gaze and Lena was staring at her inquisitively.  _ Are you okay, baby? _ Regina and Emma saw their tender moment and looked down at their plates to give them a little bit of privacy. As much privacy as one could have while at the dinner table. Kara turned her hand over and squeezed Lena's hand back, just as tight.  _ I'm fine, thank you. _

Lena continued to stare for a moment longer before nodding and like nothing happened, the atmosphere cleared up and soon enough everyone was laughing and having a great time. And even though they were in a different dimension, Lena carefully kept a tiny portal open so that if something dire was happening in National City, Kara would hear it immediately.

Regina set her wine glass down, and looked at Kara, pushing her long dark hair over her right shoulder and Lena rolled her eyes. She knew that look. Her sister was scheming, and if she didn’t trust Regina so much—and if she didn’t personally know that Regina would kill anyone who hurt Kara, she would’ve stepped in before the train wreck could even start.

“ So, dear. Tell me about your meeting with Cat Grant?”

Kara shrugged lightly, mouth opening and closing several times much to everyone's amusement, “It was great! Awesome, I-I mean...Cat put so much consideration into everything that she made saying yes so easy and even easier to sign the contract.”

“ Contract? What contract, did you read it first?” Regina asked, slightly alarmed but Lena has heard this all before so she just sat back and smirked at her sister, while Emma munched on dessert quietly.

“ Oh don't worry, Regina. It was only a hundred and eight pages, but I personally combed through it myself with CatCo's legal team  _ plus... _ I can read really fast. Everything was in order. Cat signed a contract herself, a NDA. Yeah, I know...surprised me too. I have three copies.”

“ NDA? Why would...Cat knows?”

“ Yeah, apparently for a while now. I'm still at CatCo though, so  _ that _ is something, right?”

“ Sure it is kid, sounds like you had a pretty kick ass day.” Emma commented, she gestured towards Kara's knuckles, “Literally and figuratively...kick some alien ass today?”

Kara rubbed her knuckles a little self-consciously, “Something like that...I had to um...settle a family dispute earlier today.”

The magical beings all shared a knowing look and Regina cleared her throat, “Yes, well...we all know a little something about drawing the lines with our own families at one point in our lives. But dear, your hand  _ is  _ awfully red...”

“ You should see the other guy,” Kara joked and Emma just snorted, “But it's okay Regina, really. Lena's checked multiple times already but I don't want it to be healed, it'll heal soon enough but for now...I'd like it to stay the way that it is.”

“ Fair enough,” Regina conceded after mentally checking in with her sister, “Anyway, how was your office?”

“ Awesome! Since Cat knows, she's made my office cooler than her own. Gives me the privacy I need to change into my supersuit and gave me a panic button to let her know I was out of the office.”

“ Well, I suppose that is very considerate of Ms. Grant. And what about your staff, are they competent?” Emma and Lena rolled their eyes collectively,  _ of course _ Regina would ask that.

“ I don't know,” Kara admitted with another small shrug, “I have an entire floor to myself but Cat is only giving me a week to fill the desks. She wants me to hand pick my personal staff, starting with two assistants. I start the job interviews tomorrow morning.”

Regina's eyes lit up, and Lena and Emma finally figured out what the brunette was up to, “Would you like some help sorting through the paperwork? Two pairs of eyes are better than one, dear, and—”

“ And my wife is bored out of her mind,” Emma interrupted, “Nothing happens in Storybrooke, and she's bored so please...let her go, Kara. Maybe I'll get a moments peace.”

Regina settled a heated glare at the dragon but Emma just winked, “Kara, it's completely up to you. I was merely just offering my services.”

“ I mean...” Kara glanced at Lena, then back to Regina, “I really wouldn't mind the help  _ and  _ the company, but I have to warn you—I have three hundred and thirty eight applications so far.”

Regina raised an eyebrow, “A hundred and sixty-nine a piece then, I'm ready. Thank you, Kara. And what about you Lena, will you be joining us?”

She wanted to, she was tempted to—but Lena was thriving on how quickly her family had taken to Kara, and Lena wanted her sister to have more bonding time with her soulmate, one on one—it would do them both some good, plus she figured that Kara wouldn't get into a lot of trouble in Regina's presence. So she just smiled and shook her head. “Not this time, I have some things to take care of at the bar, financial and inventory alike.”

“ I second that, I wanna start working on my next car project tomorrow,” Emma started then smiled brightly at Kara, “Speaking of, you wanna see what it looks like  _ before  _ I start restoring it?”

Kara nodded, “Sure, just let me—”

Lena reached out and gently took the plate from the Kryptonians hands, and set it back down on the table, “We'll handle the dishes, honey, go ahead. And try not to burn down the town!” she called after the two troublemakers, just before the front door slammed shut. Lena and Regina continued to sit at the dinner table, sipping their wine until they heard Emma peel away into the night.

“ That was nice of you to offer Kara your services. Though one would think that you're trying to get a job.”

Regina snorted and waved her hand over the table, a cloud of purple smoke clearing the dirty dishes but leaving the candles and their wine glasses behind, and a fresh bottle, “I was very genuine with my offer, sister, but I  _ if  _ Kara so happens to offer me a job...I won't say no. I'm quite bored with being the Mayor of Storybrooke anyhow. They only need me when a magical crisis arises and it's been quiet for  _ months  _ now. Besides, I'm surprised you're not jumping at the chance to spend more time with her. She is  _ your  _ soulmate, after all.”

“ We share the same bed, and she practically lives with me. I'm happy to share for a few hours. I'm trying to give her space, and I'm not going to lie...the thought of you being so smitten with her is adorable!”

Regina waved away her sister's comment, “Oh please, I told you...she's like a little puppy. I can't help myself, and neither can Emma. Plus, she's family. We're a tiny unit, but we stick together...and she's part of it now. I know you're giving her space, but I don't have to. She's going to need all the help she can get after tonight...”

“ And what better back up to have than family right?”

“ Exactly. So it would help being close by.”

Lena stared down at her hands, eyes watery, “Thank you, Regina. I know I've been quite distant lately but I truly appreciate you and Emma accepting Kara so kindly into our family.”

“ She made it so easy, dear.” Regina whispered, suddenly appearing next to Lena and giving the other woman a tight hug, “She's your soulmate, and that makes her my little sister and Emma's. She was ours the moment she came to your dreams centuries ago...” Regina pulled away, and wiped away Lena's tears, “Have you told her any of this yet? Being soul mates, I mean?”

Lena shook her head sheepishly, “No, I'm...I don't know how she'd take it, and I don't want to stress her right now. She has so much on her plate right now...I was thinking of telling her when everything cools down.”

“ Lena, you don't have to be scared. I’ve seen the way she looks at you, it's the same as when you look at her when she isn’t looking. The last thing you'll be doing is adding stress...I think you'd be taking some away.”

Lena didn’t exactly agree with Regina even though her heart jumped as it swelled a little with hope but while it was advice she trusted. She was still going to wait until Kara seemed good and settled with her new role in life to drop  _ that  _ particular bomb on her Kryptonian (not) girlfriend. Before she could voice her thoughts a loud explosion sounded through the entire house, startling the two power sorceresses to their feet and ready to defend their home to the death. But it wasn't until Kara suddenly appeared between them, slightly a step ahead with wide eyes that Lena realized that it wasn't Storybrooke in trouble, but National City.

Quickly, she reached forward and took Kara's shoulder, muttering a spell and the Kryptonian was dressed in her (new and improved) [supersuit](http://i11.kanobu.ru/r/b34a10ee530859d754bc19304856ad36/1040x-/u.kanobu.ru/editor/images/86/38224f55-1d83-436a-9c86-e7f6caec3317.png) and quickly opened the portal. Kara didn’t even register the change with her suit, she was gone—shouting her gratitude over her shoulder just before Lena closed the portal.

Lena looked at Regina's bewildered expression and laughed out loud, “Get used to that sister, Kara's life can be a bit jarring.” just then Emma came barging in, eyes wide with panic, a crowbar in one hand and her gun in the other.

“ I lost Kara.”

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone liked the chapter:) Night!
> 
> CS...


	20. Hear Me Now

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**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

When Supergirl reached the point of distress in National City, the scene before her was not something she truly expected. The street was a mess and she nearly avoided a Thanagarian mace to the face. She caught the handle of the weapon before it could do more damage to the properties around them, or maim any of the civilians standing around them with their cell phones out trying to capture the moment. The Kryptonian looked at the chaos around them with barely concealed horror and she was wondering just what the hell was going on in her city. She heard a pained battle cry above her and saw Hawkgirl go flying into a nearby building with a thud and it was obvious that she was out for the rest of the battle with that broken wing she'd be nursing for the next few days.

Kara took stock of the other heroes that had been encroaching in her territory, The Flash was laid out near a broken fire hydrant, groaning and nursing his apparently broken arm. Not too far from him, the Green Arrow was kneeling behind an overturned car, taking rapid shots at the three villains raining hell on everyone and everything within a two foot radius. But the big hairy one roared quite loudly, and picked up a bent newsstand and threw it in the Green Arrow's area making the man break cover and roll into another one.

Kara noticed that another man with dark hair wearing black tactical gear with dark orange glasses. She thought he looked rather foolish with those things on, but to each their own. He was fighting with the giant shark that Kara recognized from one of Flash's many battles, King Shark, was it's name. He wasn't getting very far with the sea beast. He just seemed to be upsetting the creature more than it already was. And the third rather huge villain destroying her city was growing bigger by the second every time NCPD and the DEO shot at him. There was another man, or...preferably an Iron Man wanna be, on the DEO's side blasting at Atom Smasher but it was ineffective.

(Kara had no idea who the DEO recruited to replace her, but they should keep trying...)

One would think they’d stop when the bullets were bouncing off of him like little pebbles. The large man, who she recognized as Atom Smasher, was too busy terrorizing the authorities and pushing them further back to notice Supergirl's arrival, not that the Kryptonian was doing too much to make her presence known anyway.

Kara spotted her sister crouching behind a DEO SUV, but what struck her as odd was that Maggie was no where near Alex. She was on the other side of the perimeter.  _ Curious. _ Kara had been so busy taking in the chaos, she didn’t notice that the bystanders had turned their camera's towards her or that the CatCo chopper was focusing on her, and that her new and very much approved supersuit was already trending on the social media sites. She also didn’t notice that the Green Arrow was now standing right next to her. His nose was bleeding, most likely broken and he looked worn out—but at least he was alive considering what they were up against.

“ Finally, a heavy hitter.” he gritted, trying to shake off his stiff arm.

Kara hummed, “Mind telling me why you guys are trying to destroy my city?”

“ It's a long story. Mind taking care of those guys while I get Barry and Kendra to safety?”

Kara nodded, “Think Kendra would mind me using her mace for a while?” But Oliver was already walking away and Kara was still holding onto the theory that he and Batman were somehow related. They were both so... _ eh _ . Kara wasn't sure who she wanted to destroy first, it's been awhile since she has been in a good fight and after the shit Kal-El and Alex tried to pull on her, on top of everything else she had some pent up aggression that she was just dying to let out. (Cat's wise words always stuck with her; there was always anger behind the anger. She just had to find it...and Kara definitely did).

Gorilla Grodd made the decision for her. He stared at her with those brown eyes, they were so intense they looked red almost and he was staring at her like J'onn would stare at someone when he was reading their minds. It suddenly dawned on Supergirl and she smirked, tapping her temple, “What's the magic word?”

The joke was not appreciated and Gorilla Grodd charged at Kara on all fours, drawing the attention of the other two behemoths. King Shark tossed aside the man in the stupid glasses aside like he was trash floating in the air, and joined with a snarl of his own and Atom Smasher joined them. It wasn't the turn-out Kara wanted, but it was what she was getting.

(Back in Storybrooke, Emma and Regina were staring intently at Regina's large hallway mirror behind Lena in awe and horror—and while Regina and Emma knew that Kara was more than capable, Lena was about to have a goddamn heart attack)

(Even from her office at CatCo, Cat was on edge)

Using her superspeed, Kara met Grodd half way and used Hawkgirl's mace as a baseball bat and hit his elbows soft spot between his bones with enough force to shatter bones, and took the giant ape off balance. Grodd went tumbling face first into the ground. Kara skidded to a stop a few feet away and spun around on her tippy toes, her cape twirling around her with so much poise it was poetic. She threw Hawkgirl's mace at half strength, and while King Shark had enough sense to side step the deadly bludgeon, his temporary partner did not. Atom Smasher caught a face full of Nth Metal and it shattered his helmet completely. The eight foot man went down hard and shook the neighboring streets. He had started shrinking down to his regular size and the DEO quickly stuffed him into one of their vans.

That just left an injured Grodd and King Shark to deal with.

“ _ Supergirl!”  _ that was J'onn, she had forgotten about that earpiece,  _ “Stand down, the DEO will handle—”  _ Kara tore the annoying comms piece from her ear and crushed it.

Thinking fast on her feet, Supergirl decided to get up close and personal. She zipped in front of King Shark, jumping up and placing both feet on his broad chest and pushed back to attack Grodd while simultaneously knocking over the giant fish. Kara hit Grodd in the face with a clean right and left, before delivering a nasty high knee into his sternum. The ape swung and tried to smash the Kryptonian but she was too fast, and saw it coming.

Kara appeared behind him, arms wrapped tightly around his waist and she flew up and made an upside down U as she slammed Grodd into the ground, head first. She didn’t give him time to recover properly as she froze him with her breath and European upper cut him into unconsciousness.

King Shark was behind her in a second, more agile than she gave him credit for but Supergirl just turned around and tossed him high into the air, nearly to the clouds and she followed him. Everyone was looking up, eyes squinting but all that they saw was one white cloud turn into a deep red and a smoking figure being shot down back to the Earth just outside of the city towards the desert.

When Kara landed once more, she picked up Hawkgirl's mace and stood in the middle of the mess as the crowd of civilians erupted into cheers. They’ve never seen their hero display that much controlled power and Kara was just relieved that they weren’t afraid of her anymore. She might have gotten a bit carried away, but she felt better now that she had something to punch and throw. The moment of joy was short lived as Alex approached her, not caring the the other DEO Agents were packing up and leaving with Grodd and Atom Smasher.

“ That was...really something, Supergirl. Those were some impressive moves, I'm proud.”

Kara nodded, arms crossed to hide her nervousness, all that bravado suddenly disappearing in the face of Alex's disappointment behind the smile, her ire was back but it wasn't as bad as it was before, she no longer wanted to hit Alex,  _ much,  _ “Thank you, Alex. I'm surprised you didn’t call Superman.”

Alex's jaw worked momentarily, but she just shook her head, “Do you mind if we talk somewhere in private? I don't feel comfortable with all of these camera's around.”

“ Now you know how I feel everytime I'm at the DEO knowing that every Agent has a clip loaded with Kryptonite gelled bullets.”

“ Kara-”

“ My apartment, half an hour. See you later.”

Alex blinked and her sister was gone. The DEO Agent looked around and caught familiar brown eyes, but Maggie's glare was heated enough to make her look away first. Alex's frustrated sigh was loud as she stalked off the scene towards her bike.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Kara found the wayward heroes that brought those beasts into her city without her explicit permission very quickly. They had been hiding out in some parking garage, arguing a bit loudly and that's how Kara was able to find them. When she showed up, Barry was sitting against the wall, still holding his broken arm and Kendra was standing by the truck, her wing now completely healed over but she looked pissed.

“ Uh, I think this belongs to you...” Kara awkwardly handed over the Thanagarians mace, thankful that she wasn't too annoyed about her borrowing it for a bit.

“ Nice kick ass out there, Supergirl. You're way better than your cousin that's for sure. That five minute fight would’ve lasted  _ hours  _ if we left him alone out there.”

Kara snorted, but she didn’t try to dispute that because it was true. And  _ that  _ was one of the primary reasons that Metropolis' taxes were so darn high, “So, does anyone wanna explain to me why you're all here and with large company?”

Kendra and Oliver looked at Barry who just sat there looking sheepish, “It was an emergency...I am dealing with some stuff in Central City and I needed to move those guys to a safer location. Oliver and Kendra agreed to help and the quickest route was through National City but something happened and they overturned the truck. They were supposed to be incapacitated longer, I really don't know what happened Kara and I'm sorry.”

Kara couldn't be annoyed with her friend even if she tried, but the rest of the city? That was another matter and she was sure Cat would have a scathing article written and ready by tomorrow morning, “It's...next time just give me a heads up, Barry.”

“ Got it. Nice super suit by the way, you look  _ awesome _ !” Kendra whistled in agreement.

“ Thank you,” Kara blushed slightly, “So, trouble at home? Anything I can help you with?”

Barry shook his head, and Kendra helped him to his feet, “I...it's nothing I can't handle, but if I need a heavy hitter, then you'll be the first I'll call.”

“ Speaking of hitting...” Oliver trailed off, staring at Kara blankly but she could read the man's curiosity a mile away.

Kara smirked, “Grodd and Atom Smasher are in a secure facility and King Shark? He's drying up in the desert, so if you want him before the men in black find him, you better get moving. And speaking of, I gotta fly. See you guys later.”

“ See you, Supergirl.” Kendra fluttered her wings, “And don't worry, we'll knock next time. Hero common courtesy, it's  _ Oliver's  _ rule anyway. He  _ hates  _ it when other heroes operate in his city.”

Kara laughed at Oliver's grumbling and left the area quickly and went to her apartment. She wasn't at all surprised to find Alex already there, running her index finger along Kara's kitchen counter and held it up revealing the scary amount of dust that had been collected. Kara closed her window but she didn’t dare move, she wanted to be close to an exit as possible but she did step in front of the wall just in case.

“ You haven’t been here in awhile, I see. I guess your girlfriend has a nicer place, hm? Lena is her name right?”

Kara shrugged, on high guard, “She cooks.”

Alex's eyebrow twitched as she sat down at the barstool casually but her body language was anything but relaxed, and it didn’t make Kara feel safe in her adoptive sisters presence one bit. But she didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary outside of her apartment, so that was something.  _ Right? _

“ I've checked every  _ Lena  _ in this city, and the city over and the city over. None of them are here,” Alex stated quietly, “That's not her real name, is it?”

“ No.”

“ If I ask, will you tell me?”

“ No.”

“ I figured. Nice suit.” a pause, “Winn is at the DEO full time now, so I know he didn’t make it. You wanna tell me who?”

“ Nope.” Kara crossed her arms, “You gonna call Kal now? Get him to make me talk?”

“ Kara, it wasn't like that.”

“ I'm older than him  _ and  _ you, or have you forgotten that Alex? Have you forgotten than I'm my own person? I can make good decisions without you or J'onn or Kal-El looking over my shoulder?”

“ Is that why you were arrested for bar fighting, hustling and running from the police?” Alex cut in softly, but her eyes were angry, tired and disappointed, “Some good decision making you're doing Kara. Who are these people you're hanging out with? You hardly have time for your friends and family anymore!”

“ Yeah? Well, it's not like my so called friends and family had time for me when I was a nobody!”

“ What the hell are you talking about, Kara?! Those people don't know you like we do, we've been there every step of the way and—”

“ Doubting me!” Kara yelled back, taking a step closer, “Trying to control me,” another step, “Threatening me,” another step, tears wanted to spill but Kara forced them at bay, “Repressing me, but Lena? She doesn’t do that. She helps me, she sets me free...and...” Kara licked her dry lips and met Alex's gave steadily, “And she only controls me...when I ask her to. I've been better since I've been with Lena. I've been...I've been healthy and I haven’t felt this good since...since before Krypton died.” if that wasn't a slap to Alex's face, then it was for damn sure a blow to the gut.

“ How the fuck can you stand there and say that?!” Alex nearly broke her neck as she shot off of the bar chair she was sitting in, “We took you in! Even when we didn’t want you, we took you in anyway! We gave you a home, helped you control your powers and fit in! And it got my father killed... _ you  _ got my father killed! Your own cousin, the great and almighty Superman didn’t even want you, Kara! He dumped you with a bunch of strangers who studied shit for a living and never once checked in with you. We clothed you, fed you, protected you...and this is how you repay my family's kindness?”

Kara willed herself not to back down from Alex's verbal onslaught though some of it cut her down with the ease of a Kryptonian sword, “And I will always appreciate the obligated (Alex flinched at the word) care, Alex, but you and Eliza? Were never my family. You claim you sacrificed  _ so much  _ for me but you didn’t, Alex, you didn’t. You  _ used  _ me to get to where you are. And we both know it. And when I saved you from dying that night...I was...I didn’t and couldn't understand why you were so upset with me. I saved your life and hundreds of others, but you called me stupid and irresponsible and that hurt my feelings. But I let it go, because I thought you were still shaken up. I let it go. But then when I started being a hero in my own right, you got angrier and angrier when I had my very first super suit. So upset that couldn't be bothered to tell the DEO that you'd bring me in, you had them shoot me out of the sky. With Kryptonite. What if it had knocked out my powers Alex, I could've died from that fall. Did you even care? My powers had been dormant for years...the Kryptonite could've killed me. Did you even think?!”

Alex moved around to the other side of the island,running both hands through her hair, “Kara-”

“ And you wanna talk about sacrifices Alex? How about the fact that I lost  _ my entire fucking culture  _ and got stuck in a phantom zone for  _ years  _ without social contact!? Of course I was gonna be fucking weird! I-I mean...” Kara laughed, nearly hysterical and she sniffled loudly and wiped away her tears, “I didn’t ask you to sacrifice your social life, or, or your career in science! I didn’t ask you to become an alcoholic! You  _ used  _ me as an excuse to spiral out of control and I dare you to deny it.”

Alex didn’t speak, she didn’t blink but the continuous tears running down her face and ruining her makeup spoke volumes, “I've been shitty sometimes, I know, but Kara you need to know that I've done everything in this world for you and I did it because I care about you and I love you, goddamn it, why can't you just understand that I'm just trying to protect you! I wanted you to be happy and to live the life you wanted to live! I made a deal with the DEO, to work for them in exchange for them to leave you alone! I sacrificed  _ everything _ to make sure you had your best chance in this world given the circumstances. So, I don't care what you say right now, you're my little sister and you always will be. Whether you see me as your sister anymore, doesn’t matter to me, okay? It doesn’t, because I will always love you regardless. But I'm not sorry for any of it, if you weren’t going to look after yourself, I was and I always will.”

Kara stared at Alex for a minute, processing her words. The young hero felt something drilling into her left temple, and she realized that she was getting a migraine from this. Her entire had it's ups and downs, but this would be the biggest down of the day. “At least, with Kal-El...he is honest about his bullshit.”

Alex sighed harshly again, “Kara, will you just get your head out of your ass? I know being out on your own has liberated you from what really matters, but you getting arrested is not cool. It's irresponsible, and here I am again, cleaning up your mess! Like always, and I'm scared to think what other things you're out there doing. You need to come in to the DEO and get debriefed. you’ve had your fun, but it's time to get your priorities straight.” and just like that, Alex was all business and demanding—as if they hadn’t been trying to tear at each others souls, and Kara knew that she'd have whiplash if it were at all possible, “Things have changed at the DEO, and—”

“ I don't work for the DEO, Alex. I don't care about the policies and regulations changing, besides, it seems as if you have two new helpers anyway.”

“ Mon-El and the Guardian?” Alex shook her head, and rolled her eyes, “New editions, but they’re no Supergirl.”

“ Thanks Alex, but no thanks.”

“ Kara wait,” Alex rushed forward but stopped short, unsure of what she was about to do when Kara began moving back towards the window she climbed through earlier, “I mean...listen, I know we're at odds right now, but...don't...you remember what happened the last time you tried to branch off on your own right? Just come with me to the DEO and I promise we'll get everything sorted out.”

Kara opened the window, but she didn’t leave just yet, “I'm done with the DEO and the government, Alex. Kal was right, the government can't be trusted. Especially the DEO, I know people. I can protect National City and not be the DEO's pet in a cape.”

“ Kara if you leave this apartment without me, J'onn won't hesitate. It took a lot for me to convince him to let me talk to you first. To get you to come in quietly—”

“ What happened to those negotiation skills when you first brought me into the DEO?”

“ Kara, stop being a brat and listen to me, Kara wait don't do this!  _ Please, _ ” Alex ignored the jab and touched Kara's forearm, and pretended that it didn’t hurt when Kara pulled away. Alex stepped back when Kara began to climb out of the window, bracing herself for impact of a Kryptonian that looked heavier than she looked. Kara was crouched in the window seal when they both heard the shot. And Kara knew she could've dodged the tranquilizer dart filled to the brim with glowing green liquid—she was too shocked and disappointed with the woman behind her to think. The dark hit her skin but it did not pierce it, the glass broke and the liquid oozed down the side of her neck like goo but it didn’t phase her. At all.

Kara, shocked, pushed herself out of the window and hovered, slowly turning to face an equally shocked Alex as she wiped the liquid with two fingers. It was Kryptonite, but...

_ It's magic, darling. I know magic harms you...but it can also protect you. I have your back. _

Kara laughed, out of surprise, awe and something else she couldn't readily decipher but it was warm and it felt a lot like love if she had to take a quick guess. She laughed at Alex's fish out of the water look, she laughed at the panicked DEO Agents that were camped all over the block. She laughed because...she laughed because she was Kara fucking Zor-El, the Last Daughter of Krypton and the rightful heir to the House of El. She laughed again, when the sniper fired another round, thinking the first one was a fluke and she let it hit her cheek because it was ticklish and J'onn was having an absolute conniption.

And she didn’t know it, but Kal-El was hovering above the clouds just outside of the city sitting Indian style with a small smile on his face. He was proud of her, and he was pissed at the same time—he'd be having a few words J'onn the next time they saw one another.

His jaw still hurt from where Kara nearly knocked his jaw loose, but she had also knocked some sense into him as well. After their tussle, on of which she won, he didn’t go to Metropolis. Instead, he went to his Fortress of Solitude and he sat there for hours, watching clips of Krypton before it perished. The life, the brilliance and the love. He browsed through photos of his family, mostly of Kara holding him when he was an infant...bathing him, and changing his diapers. There was even a clip of Kara reading to him when he was sleeping. And Kal knew. He knew that everything she had said, she was right.

It would take time, a lot of time for him to right his wrongs against his cousin; the last of his kin. But he would do it, he swore on Rao he would.

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in an hour and a half on my Ipad, so please forgive any mistakes that may be there.
> 
> Also, if anyone is holding out any sort of hope that Alex and Kara will salvage their relationship after this, or at the very least go back to how things were...well. O_O, Alex has done too much canon fuckery for my tastes to be forgiven. But still, my bad, ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯...
> 
> C_S


	21. One More Step

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**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

Alex was dragging her feet by the time she walked into the DEO, her full faced helmet hanging at her side next to the her firearm that was strapped to her thigh. She had purposely broken away from the other Agents that had been out in the field with her when they were attempting to bring her sister in. She had taken the scenic route to clear her mind, and to partially stall against the dreaded conversation she'd be having with J'onn.

She knew that he would be having questions for her—questions she didn’t have any answers to supply. He could read her mind all he wanted, but he'd be coming up blank just like her, and _he_ was the alien. There was no logical explanation as to why the Kryptonite didn’t affect Kara, and it wasn't like they could ask her cousin for anything. His aversion to the government was a well known fact, _especially_ the DEO. Alex thought about calling him anyway, but she assumed that his talk with Kara didn’t go so well since he never came back to check in with her or at least send a text to let her know how things went.

Judging by the conversation she just had with Kara, however, let Alex know _exactly_ how their conversion went. Alex was willingly to believe that Kara had some technology implanted on her suit that kept the effects of Kryptonite away from her, like Non and Astra, but with those two...the Kryptonite was still able to pierce their exposed skin (which wasn't a lot thanks to their military jumpsuits). Alex was standing _right there._ The darts hit her exposed skin, and failed. Alex had been subtly examining Kara's new super suit with a critical eye, and it looked so...futuristic and elegant. She looked mature and she fought as such against Gorilla Grodd, King Shark and Atom Smasher. But there wasn't any technology similar to Non and Astra's, it was just a suit that looked damn good.

“Agent Danvers.”

Alex sighed harshly, her luck seemed to have allowed her to make it to her office without running into the man, or anyone else that she didn’t want to talk to in particular but it seemed as if all four unwanted characters had suddenly crammed themselves in her office and locked the door.

“What happened out there?” James asked, still in his Guardian getup but his helmet was in his hands. He looked as beat up as his Daxamite wanna be Kryptonian partner, and Alex felt a little bit of satisfaction from that. Winn had inched away from the group, fidgeting in the corner looking as if he wanted to be anywhere else but her office with current company.

Alex set her helmet down on her desk harder than necessary, “We're royally fucked that's what happened, James. It's bad enough Superman won't work with us, now Supergirl won't.”

“Well, you did try to shoot her out of the sky.” Winn commented drily, “I wouldn't come back either and...and...I-I mean—” he backtracked under J'onn's heavy glare, face reddening.

“How is it possible for her to resist Kryptonite? It's not possible.” J'onn cut him off while Mon-El elbowed the computer tech in the ribs, “Non and Astra only accomplished it with technology from Fort Rozz.”

“Well, maybe Kara got ahold of the blueprints?” James suggested with a shrug, “It's possible right?”

J'onn shook his head, “No, I collected any and all technology from Non and Astra's bodies and destroyed it. Something else is at play...something otherworldly.”

“Either way, she's dangerous now. We all know what happened when she was hit with the Red Kryptonite, and how hard it was to bring her down. Now though? Without Kryptonite to use? It's going to be impossible,” James agreed, arms crossed over his chest. Alex suspected he was still bitter over Lucy dumping him and leaving the city and the disaster with his sister during and after the Red-K incident.

Mon-El scoffed, “Look, I know this chick was your friend...and sister, but she needs to be brought down. Hard.”

Alex rolled her eyes, plopping down into her chair, “Mon-El, I get that you're new here and you’ve gone on a few missions, but let's get one thing straight. You're going to get beat down if you go after Kara, especially now that she doesn’t have any known weaknesses. She's still my sister, and if anyone in this room has a say on how to bring her down. It's me.”

“Whatever, all she needs is a good hit to the head. Did you forget that I'm just as strong as Kryptonians?”

“But not as smart as they are. Or fast. Nor can you fly. Supergirl can hit Mach three just like that!” Alex snapped her fingers, as she listed her talents coolly while James and Winn politely kept their opinions to themselves. “If you charge in half-cocked, like always, you might not come back.” Alex didn’t think Kara was capable of putting anyone down for good, but she didn’t want to take that chance. Those people her sister has been hanging around lately have had influence enough to get her leading police chases and being arrested. Alex didn’t want to take a chance on anything

J'onn placed his hand on the man's shoulder, shutting him up before he could piss Alex off even more but his dark eyes were fixed on her, “Alex. We've tried it your way, now we do it by the books... _my way.”_

“J'onn you can't-”

The Martian held up his hand, “Kara knows too much and we need to bring her in and get to the bottom of this before it gets out of hand. Mon-El, James and Winn will handle this under my direction. You have twenty-four hours to pull yourself together, you will be running back end and I expect results.”

J'onn's tone left no room for argument and Alex didn’t really have any. She knew that he was correct, Kara knew too much about the DEO and their activities and with her current emotions running on high—anything could happen. She need a drink, a strong one and several. She wouldn't refuse the job, however, it would leave her out of the loop. And despite the inevitable, Kara was still her sister. The blow would be softer, if Alex was the one delivering it.

“Before...before we take any drastic moves, check CatCo and—”

“We already have,” James interrupted much to Alex's irritation, “I told you all before, Kara isn’t strong enough to be a CEO and my resources are sure. Cat is back and terrorizing her employees, Kara hasn’t been around since I left.”

Winn scoffed, “You sure your source hasn’t been fired by now, Olsen?”

“Dude chill, Kara isn’t fit to take over for Cat Grant,” James shook his head,

“But there is a good chance she is still employed there. Lord knows why.”

Mon-El shrugged, he's heard of that name before but he still had no clue what it meant, really, “So lets go there and sack this chick.”

“Negative!” J'onn cut in sharply, “CatCo is a dead-end, don't waste resources looking there. The last thing we need is Cat Grant's focus on us. Get Supergirl quickly but quietly, Agent Danvers. All of you get some chow and rest, be back here in twenty-four hours for debriefing.”

Alex kept her features and her thoughts carefully calm and collected as she gathered her things for the evening and practically stalked through the halls to the parking garage, ignoring Winn's pleading look on her way out. She couldn't meet his eyes, she was too afraid that he'd see the resignation in her eyes...and hate her like Kara did.

And maybe...just maybe Maggie had been right. _She_ is _the worst sister on the planet._ As she mounted her bike, she pulled her phone from her back pocket and dialed the Detective's number and as usual...voicemail. Alex didn’t bother leaving a voice message anymore, she only called to see if Maggie would give her a chance to apologize and explain.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Despite her desire to go back to Storybrooke to hang out with Emma in her junkyard, Kara knew that after a fight against three rather large villains and her...and her run in with the DEO via the fight with her...with Alex. Kara knew that the citizens of National City needed to see that their hero wasn't weak from her five minute long, but intense, battle with the Flash's nemesis. They needed to see that Supergirl was ready for more, and so far...it was working. The streets were crowded, but it was quiet crime wise. And Kara also wanted the DEO to be well aware that their failed attempts to sedate and capture her wasn't a fluke on their part. She was still up and flying.

Kara landed softly on CatCo rooftop and pulled out her cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

“ _Kara? Sweetheart, is everything alright?”_

Kara smiled softly into the phone and nodded even though she knew Lena couldn't see her, “Yeah, I'm fine. I'm _great!_ Lena, I'm super great right now and I don't have anyone to thank for that except for you. So, um, thank you.”

“ _Kara, baby, you don't have to thank me for saving your life or anything else. I was happy to do, and I always will be.”_

“I never doubted you before, Lena, but—but I'm starting to realize that now.” Kara paused, head dropping slightly, “I saw Alex today...at my apartment and-”

“ _I know, baby...we saw...we didn’t mean to, but,”_ Lena sighed heavily, _“I did not mean to eavesdrop but you mentioned wanting to punch her, and I promised that I would help you accomplish that goal.”_

“I...it's fine, I'm actually glad that you guys witnessed all of that. Saves me the pain of having to repeat everything...um, I've been patrolling the city for a while but I don't think I can make it back to Storybrooke. I'm at CatCo, to check in with Cat.”

Lena chuckled, and Kara could hear voices in the background but they were too muffled for her to pick up properly, _“That's fine baby, I figured you’d be a little tired by the time you came home. I'm packing up desert and some left overs.”_

“Oh...” Kara replied lamely, a goofy smile on her face as she stared down at her cool new boots. She knew that she had been spending more and more time at Lena's lately, to the point that she had clothes there. And that her own apartment had collected an impressive and disgusting amount of dust, and while Kara had already considering living with Lena 'home'...she felt a thousand times happier to _know_ that Lena was on the same page as well.

“ _Yes, Regina would like to know what time she should arrive to CatCo?”_

“Uh...”Kara blinked, mind drawing blank for a few seconds, “Oh! Um, eight is fine. I'll let security know to expect her, and there will be a CatCo badge waiting for her as well. Is...is Regina alright with that?”

“ _Eight is fine, baby.”_ Kara heard something that sounded suspiciously like wind in the background, but it was so quick she thought she might have just imagined it, _“You seem a little off, is everything alright? Aside from the obvious of course...”_

“Um, well...no not really, I kinda wanna do something but I'm not sure...”

“ _Something like what, darling?”_

Kara exhaled loudly, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, “Cat has been my mentor since I've met her three years ago. I don't wanna lie to her anymore, I mean, I haven’t been lying lying, but I haven’t been completely honest and she's giving me this huge—”

“ _If you trust her Kara, then we will trust her. I trust your judgment and so do Regina and Emma. This is a huge step you're taking and if you want me to be apart of that, then I will. We all will.”_

“Wow...no one has ever put that much trust in me before...I...I don't know what to say.”

“ _It's okay, Kara, you don't have to say anything.”_ Lena chuckle quietly, _“See you when you get home, Supergirl.”_

“Hey, Lena?”

“ _Yeah?”_

 _...thank you, I love you,_ Kara lost her nerve, the words on the tip of her tongue but instead, she just blurted, “You're awesome!”

“ _I know, darling, see you soon.”_

Kara started down at her phone, goofy smile growing more in light of Lena's teasing, “And so humble too.” Supergirl tucked the phone away in her pocket and double checked to make sure that Cat's office was secure and that the floor was empty. She didn’t have any civilian clothes to change into nearby. The Kryptonian slowly floated down until her feet landed on the CEO's balcony and she gently tapped on the older woman's door frame, not wishing to startle her long-time mentor.

Cat whirled around, her deep frown melting away into relief, “Oh good! You're alive! Of course I wasn't worried, I have faith in you Supergirl. However, the people will sleep better at night knowing that their knight in shining armor is still in good shape.”

Kara smiled, shaking her head as she entered Cat's office and sat down on her sofa, “The Flash caught me by surprise, but it wasn't much of a challenge Ms. Grant, er, Cat.” she amended under the woman's mild glare.

Cat moved to pick up one of her many remotes, “While The Blur and his many unwelcome blunders managed to land in the heart of this city, that wasn't exactly what I was talking about. When was the last time you looked at a TV since then, Kara?”

Kara just shrugged quietly, confused, and Cat rolled her eyes and pointed to her middle screen and by her largest. Just then Kara felt her phone buzzing non-stop but she couldn't move an inch of her body as she stared at the screen. She was absolutely frozen in her seat. There on TV at a near perfect angle and clear view, was Kara hovering just outside of her apartment window talking to Alex who was _just_ out of shot. Kara watched as she was hit with the first dart, then the second just before wiping the goo off and tossing it back at Alex and flying away.

It was all over the news stations, including CatCo's and there was speculations but before Kara could even think to look at the headlines, Cat had turned the TV off once more. The remote clattering against her desk snapped the Kryptonian out of her daze. She wasn't even aware that Cat was sitting next to her until she felt dainty little hands cupping her face and turning her head this way and that. Any other time, Kara would have been blushing at their close proximity and rambling away to make things worse. But for once, she wasn't. Almost as if she'd grown out of that phase, and it helped that she no longer saw Cat in that light. Cat Grant now resembled what Eliza never could.

“How?” the media Queen murmured, eyes narrowed behind her glasses, “That lime green substance _was_ Kryptonite wasn't it?” Kara nodded, eyes downcast, “And that Agent you were talking to, your sister?”

“Cat,” Kara gently took the woman's hands in her own, and removed them from her face. “I have something to tell you...I have... _a lot_ to tell you. Some of this can't be public knowledge,” Kara added quickly when she saw that familiar glint behind Cat's gaze, but she knew that Cat would never act on it. Not anymore, that is. But old habits did die hard.

“Well, that just takes the fun out of everything but I suppose just this once _Kiera._ ” Cat sighed dramatically as she went to her bar to fix them both a drink. Kara smiled at her mentors tone, knowing that she was just teasing her, keeping up their long standing game of cat and mouse. It was a dangerous game for them both once before, now it was just entertaining.

Kara took the glass half full with whiskey and took a experimental sip once Cat came back and sat down—wasn't her speed, exactly, but she'd humor Cat anyway.

“Alright, Supergirl, start talking and from the beginning.”

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_An hour and a half later..._

Cat stared at Kara, mouth slightly agape and her whiskey long forgotten. Kara licked her suddenly dry lips nervously, but she felt a great sense of relief to have all of that off of her chest—to a have a moment to vent to a fresh pair of ears. She especially liked that she and Cat were on such a level of trust to talk so openly, especially about things like this—she knew that Cat felt the same way but the older woman just needed a moment to process everything.

Kara kept quiet as Cat drained the rest of her whiskey and set the glass down on a coaster on the coffee table with a shaky hand and she was momentarily worried that she gave her too much, too soon.

_Give her a moment, darling._

Kara startled slightly but kept her appearance calm as she could, but she and Lena would definitely be having a talk about their...mental conversations, however one sided they were. And she felt a sense of warm amusement spread through her body pleasantly, and Kara wondered just how deep their bond went. It was getting stronger, and stronger everyday. Lena had explained to her about Emma and Regina's form of True Love and soul-bonding, but what did that mean for Kara and Lena? From the limited information she was given from the three women, Kara was aware that she and Lena were something more.

“You were arrested?!” Cat screeched, blazing eyes now honed in on her Co-CEO, who had enough sense to scoot away, “Kara, what the hell!”

“Of all of that, that's what you focus on?” Kara laughed in disbelief, but it was so like Cat to disregard proof of actual magic, other dimensions, dragons and unhinged secret government agencies.

Cat waved away her comment like she was swatting a fly, “Kara, National City is full of aliens and you are an alien and a superhero. I can't be surprised with too much else anymore...except the fact that you were arrested.”

Kara sighed, “It was just one time, I swear.”

“For your sake, dear, it better be. You're about to become the face of CatCo...you can't do things like this, it's unbecoming and immature.”

“I understand, Cat and I'm sorry.”

Cat scoffed, “Apologize when you mean it, judging by that glamorous mugshot, you were everythingbut sorry.” Cat waited until Kara caught on to what she said to let the Kryptonian in on a little secret of her own, “You should know by now Kiera that I have a superpower of my own...you didn’t think I would know that my protege has a mugshot floating about like Kate Winslet in the Titanic?”

“But...but...H-how?!”

“I have my resources, as you will too one day. I was just waiting for you to come to me and spill your little heart out for forgiveness.”

“But...but you seemed so surprised!”

“All for show.”

“You're unbelievable.” Kara laughed, pushing a strand of hair from her face.

“I've heard that one before, just never in the form of a compliment.” Cat crossed her legs at the knee, “So, now that we have all of the witches and alien drama out of the way with a side dish of psycho government Agents on the loose...are you ready for tomorrow?”

“Wait...you're not worried about the DEO coming here and trying to—”

“Kara, the last thing the government wants to do is tangle with CatCo, me in particular. I'll expose them for every little secret they have and I won't think twice about it. I have enough dirt on politicians and generals to make Lance Armstrong’s career look like roses and teacups. Trust me, Kara, CatCo is safe and if those shady government bodies know what's good for them, so are you. I will protect you the best way I can, with all that I have.”

“T-thank you, Cat.”

“Will I get to be meeting this witchy girlfriend of yours anytime soon then? I want to feel her out for myself.”

“Oh um...you're not going to go overboard with the shovel talk are you?” the look Kara received was all the answer she needed and she sighed quietly, “Cat...”

“Kara, you're about to be the face of a multibillion media empire. You're also about to become a billionaire. I don't care if this woman is your soulmate, I need to see for myself. To make sure she is not taking advantage of you. Supergirl or not, we all have feelings and feelings are easily manipulated.” Cat didn’t need to point out Kara's foster sister as an example, the distant and understanding look in Kara's gaze assured Cat that they were on the same page. But she wasn't expecting Kara to surge forward, and pull her into a bone crushing hug. Not literally, of course, but it was tight all the same. Cat rubbed the young woman's back before pulling back and kissing her forehead.

“No more pastels, right?”

Kara snorted, then laughed, and shook her head, “No, Cat, no more pastels...Lena wouldn't allow it anyway,” Kara knew that Lena didn’t have a say over her clothing unless she specifically asked for her too, but she wanted to give a her a few brownie points before meeting Cat knowing that her mentor was going to put her soon to be lover through the ring of fire. Several of them actually.

Cat raised a brow, humming thoughtfully as she rose to refill their glasses, “I like her already...so, you said that this... _Lena_ character gave you this super suit makeover? Long overdue if you ask me. But,” she handed Kara her glass “was it the suit that protected you from the Kryptonite? What happens if you don't wear it?”

“Actually...I think Lena put a spell on me, the suit was just a bonus.”

“Hm, well. Whatever the solution... I hope it never wears off.”

“Cheers...” they clinked glasses, and sat in Cat's office side by side in their own comfortable positions just drinking Cat's imported and extremely expensive whiskey. “I have an idea for a new magazine issue. One I think that would really put CatCo light years ahead of any other media company.”

“You mean more so than we already are?” Cat murmured back, eyes glued to her phone, “I'm listening...”

“I know we already write articles that cater to alien attacks and Supergirl...but what would you say to creating a magazine that caters to nothing but aliens and meta-humans...both good and bad?” Kara shifted, turning to face Cat with one foot tucked beneath her, “I mean, wouldn't people want to know what else is out there in the universe rather than get surprised? It could be a real education. And not just from Supergirl, because while I've been to many planets and galaxies...I'm sure there are other aliens out there who have been to more, and seen a lot more than I have.” she finished off, voice wavering with uncertainty, and excitement. It's something that had been on her mind for a while.

Cat looked up from her phone, “That's...such a wonderfully dangerous idea, and I love it...but have you thought of the repercussions of this? There are plenty of anti-alien activists out there just as there are plenty of pro-alien activists, yes, but having something like this out there...could make these citizens targets in the worst possible way.”

“I know, but anonymity is always an option isn’t it? No alias' given, or photos...just culture backgrounds, languages known...experiences if they’re comfortable. And the same goes for metahumans, anything they’re comfortable with being public knowledge...we publish. Of course, the contract has to be air tight behind that just in case...”

Cat nodded, taking a sip from her glass, deep in thought, “I can have the legal department whip something up...this all sounds really good, Kara, but what about the first few issues? It's not gonna happen just like _that!”_ Catherine snapped her fingers, sharply, “These aren’t just human's...we're going to be dealing with a whole new world of hate, love and awe. I can't imagine anyone signing right up for this...aside from Supergirl that is.”

“I actually...have a few people in mind, fellow superheroes and villains, alien and meta alike. And some vigilantes as well.”

“Villains and vigilantes? How?”

“They owe me a few favors.” Kara shrugged nonchalantly, as if it weren’t a big deal and Cat was impressed. She knew Kara had connections, but not that many.

“If I approve this... _if..._ I approve this...” Cat held up one finger, quieting down Kara's protests, “Then we will have to manage this very closely. Kara, I'm very serious about this. There is so much that could backfire from this, for example...what if someone makes the connection that you're Supergirl? And decides to ask you that billion dollar question?”

“Um...”

But Cat wasn't done, “You can lie, but you can never take it back if you ever decide to just come out with it. It will discredit everything that little project of yours stands for. But if you say yes...it changes everything.” Cat held up that finger again, and Kara, once again, shut her mouth, “I don't want to discuss this anymore tonight. What I want you do is pitch this to me. Pitch it like you're about to pitch it to my... _our_ board. Because you will if the proper steps are taken, you understand?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to create an outline, a blueprint...whatever it is that alien millennial brain of yours thinks will make this sell. I don't want any gray areas, and when we talk about this...I expect all of my questions answered with confidence and with a quickness, do you understand?”

“Including my secret?”

Cat raised an eyebrow, “Including your secret.”

Kara nodded slowly, blinking rapidly, “Yeah...yeah, I can do that.”

“I know you can, Kara.” Cat sipped her whiskey while Kara finished hers off easily and rose from her seat on the couch, “Be sure to stop by tomorrow sometime, we need to talk about our split duties. I imagine tomorrow might be a bit busy for you, filling your ranks and all, but this needs to be discussed very soon. I can't keep this all under wraps much longer.”

Kara nodded again, “Understood, um...do you need a ride home?”

Cat scoffed, rolling her eyes, “Goodnight, Supergirl.”

“Goodnight, Ms. Grant.” Kara used her super speed to clean her glass and put it away, message Cat's driver and she was gone in two seconds flat. Kara broke the sound barrier on the way to...on the way home. By the time she got there, the kitchen back door was unlocked and the house was dark except for a few lamps here and there. She hadn’t realized she was at CatCo that long. Kara walked through the house at human pace, turning off all of the lights.

When she entered the master bedroom, the room was dark except for the large TV on the wall that was playing some cartoons. Lena was laying on her side of the bed, slightly towards the middle wearing nothing but a large t-shirt and a pair of panties, fast asleep. Kara smiled and went into the master bathroom and stripped out of suit and took a speedy shower before jumping into bed in only her boy shorts and a sports bra. It was different from the sweats and tank top she usually wore. Kara was feeling braver than before as she snuggled up to the brunette beneath the cool sheets, laying her head on her chest as Lena drowsily wrapped her arm around her, both of them shifting around until they got comfortable.

Though Kara didn’t fall asleep, she lay there wide awake staring at the TV screen but not really watching it. Her thoughts were occupied with her future. Kara laid there for another hour listening to Lena's strong and steady heartbeat before she carefully scooted out of the bed and left the bedroom. Her bare feet not even feeling the icy coolness of the hardwood floor. Kara went to Lena's home office and found her backpack and pulled out her journal (diary, but whatever) and the day time planner she reserved for CatCo use only.

She sat in Lena's large plush chair, and turned on her computer. Kara put on some rock music, but made sure to keep the volume low and began to jot down the thoughts that were keeping her up. Between her personal journal and her work one, she was on fire and showed no signs of stopping. Which is why, two hours later, Lena was so reluctant to interrupt her work but it was close to two in the morning and she knew that Kara needed _at least_ five hours of sleep. The sorceress poofed behind the chair and reached over to pause the music, snapping Kara out of her work daze. The Kryptonian looked up sharply, and saw that Lena had ditched the t-shirt in favor of a tank top. She was faced with full breasts, and semi-hard nipples and it took a lot of determination to force her eyeballs up. Lena was sleepy, but amused and she would be lying it the clear desire in Kara's blue eyes didn’t make her feel warm in certain places.

“I'm sorry, did I wake you?” Kara swallowed thickly, her voice was rough and Lena licked her bottom slowly.

“I woke up all alone, and was worried that you had another nightmare about your Aunt...but I see that is clearly not the case.”

Kara shook her head, leaning back in the chair, rocking it slightly, “Well...I pitched my idea to Cat and she wanted me to come up with a complete game plan and gave me some stuff to think about.”

With the ease of a feline, Lena eased her way between the desk and the chair to slid into the blonde's lap like she's done it a million times. Kara sat behind her, stunned and staring at her back. It wasn't like they haven’t been so intimate like this before, and half naked, but Kara was still shocked and she couldn't understand why. Perhaps it was because of the feelings she finally discovered towards Lena. The one's she knew that were already there, but they had been so smothered by everything else—she hadn’t had time to process what was right in front of her.

While Kara was over thinking everything behind her, Lena was busy being smug about being able to make Kara speechless constantly and going over the younger woman's business pitch with a critical eye. She leaned back, shifting to the side slightly as she held up the journal so that they both could see, “Kara?”

“Uh...huh? Yeah?”

Lena smiled, “This looks perfect so far, baby.”

Kara blinked, returning the smile though she was still uncertain, “Are you sure? I mean, i-it's just a rough draft, I might just scrap it later and-”

Lena quickly switched her position in the blonde's lap, now straddling her with her arms around her neck and the pad of paper sitting between them, “Kara, this idea...it's amazing, and it just further shows how kind, and thoughtful you are. Despite everything you have been through your entire life, and the demons you're still battling to this day...the fact that you're still so selfless, even to those who don't deserve it....” Lena trailed off, shaking her head and unable to resist any longer, she brought both of her hands around to gently cup Kara's face, brushing her mouth over hers slowly. Lingering and doing it again. Kara's hands that had been resting on top of her bare thighs, automatically moved to her hips,pulling her closer. Encouraged, Lena's mouth was on Kara's again, pressing closer this time. The unbelievable softness of Kara's pink lips caressed her own, mouths fused together like two missing puzzle pieces finally coming together.

Lena pulled the pencil from Kara's messy bun and tossed the thing aside before she tangled her fingers in that beautiful blonde mane, and Kara's hands were growing bolder the longer they kissed. She pulled Lena's body flush against her own best she could in the chair, uncaring about the journal between them. Lena broke their kiss to breath, but Kara lowered her mouth to the left side of Lena's neck, softly kissing the soft skin there. The sorceress shivered in her arms, and moaned softly when Kara sucked a sensitive spot just in the crook of her neck and her grip in Kara's tightened. The hero gently bit the skin there, determined to leave a mark, and Lena moaned louder, hips jerking slightly when Kara's strong hands finally reached their goal and squeezed.

Lena pulled Kara away from her neck, and brought their mouths together once more biting her lower lip roughly, then gently sucking it into her mouth before kissing her fully.

This time when the kiss was broken, it was Kara. Her face, neck and ears reddened and she was panting softly, eyes hooded and on fire and Lena wanted more, “I love you.”

Lena's breath caught in her throat, and the blinding smile aimed at Kara eased the Kryptonians fears. The sorceress held her face in her hands tightly, “I love you too.” she punctuated each word with a kiss.

“We aren’t...this...I haven’t said it too soon did I? You don't...”

“Kara. I've known that I loved you for a very long time now. I was waiting for you to say it when _you_ felt ready. I’ve waited centuries for you, baby girl. I would’ve waited more to hear those words from you.”

“You make it so easy, Morgana Pendragon.”

“I love the way you say my name...”The brunette in her lap groaned, and Kara felt her shiver before she felt those red lips on hers once more, and Kara parted her lips immediately and melted beneath the enchantress.

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She'll like it even more when she's screaming it. 
> 
> Ahem...uh...yeah, anyways.
> 
> I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to stop, I didn't know where to stop and while this isn't as long as I wanted it to be...I didn't want a a chapter overload. Sooooo...if I need to extend the amount of chapters, I will if need be. Easy fix, lol. Which I have seriously been considering, but I'll see depending...no promises. 
> 
> Anywho! I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Ignore the mistakes, I'm lazy lol


	22. Stronger Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

For a building it's size, CatCo was always eerily quiet in the early mornings before the usual morning rush. And the doors were unlocked at exactly five in the morning, every day. The two security guards that were currently on duty had finished their routine perimeter check of the entire floor, all seventy floors, and were now just sitting behind the security desk manning the monitors and playing on their phones as they were waiting for the second shift guards to relieve them.

One guard was lightly snoozing with one eye closed, and the other somehow still open and watching Netflix, while his partner that was more alert when he heard the large glass front door swing open and high heels click clack with confident rhythm across the lithium floor.

The guard looked up, and suddenly his tired eyes weren’t so tired anymore and he was nearly tripping all over himself trying to get out his chair that nearly started to spin out of control. The woman that was approaching the security desk wasn't one he's seen walk through the doors of CatCo in his ten years of being employed there. Not wearing a red dress like that.

The brunette smirked at him, cutting off his rambling without even having to say a word. The security guard cleared his throat, and subconsciously smoothed down the wrinkles on his shirt, “Ah, good morning ma’am, can I help you with something?”

“Yes, I was informed that I may pick up my CatCo employment badge here.”

The security guard nodded, and picked up his clipboard, not bothering to alert his partner that they had company, “Right, uh, name?”

“Regina Mills.”

He took a moment to flip through the pages, brows furrowed. He shook his head and scanned through the list twice more before setting it down and shaking his head apologetically, “Ah, I'm sorry Ms. Mills but your name isn’t on the list. Are you sure?”

“Oh, I'm quite positive.” and Regina was, she knew that Kara wouldn't have forgotten to add her to the list. The Kryptonian was too responsible to forget to do that, especially since she was so concerned about a convenient time for Regina to arrive to the office on her first day. Regina Mills agreed to eight in the morning, but she had no intentions of showing up at that time, but much earlier. She wanted to prove to Kara that she could be, and _will_ be very good at her job because she _wanted_ to and not as an obligation because they were family. And though Regina would never admit this to anyone, not even Emma (even though the dragon already knew), the Evil Queen was excited about her new job.

The man behind the desk, completely unaware of the prowess of the woman before him, rubbed the back of his neck, “Uh, well maybe you're on another list. Sometimes that happens around here...do you know your department supervisor by chance?”

“Kara Zor-El.”

He stared at her for a moment before smiling brightly at the mention of the blondes name, and Regina was relieved to know that it wasn't just her that was so enamored with the superhero, she clearly had a secret superpower—or several if the pout was included. And the eyes. And the incessant need to cuddle.

“Oh, yeah! Ms. Grant came down last night before she left...and made sure that this was hot and ready for you!” he opened the desk draw on his right and pulled out a gold key card. It was so beautiful that Regina was almost convinced that the damned thing was really made out of gold. “Ms. Danvers-”

“Zor-El.” Regina corrected softly, but firmly, as she took the key card and examined it more closely.

“Right, Ms. Zor-El—sorry, the name change is gonna take awhile to get used to around here. Anyway, you see that elevator down the hall there? With the gold triangle above it? That's Ms. Zor-El's private elevator, but that key card gives you complete access.”

“Her elevator? And it's under lock and key?”

“Yes, it leads directly into her office and to the building's basement.” he held up his hands before Regina could ask, “Ms. Grant didn't provide an answer and I didn't ask, ma’am. Anyway, Ms. Zor-El's office is under lock and key.”

“And this is my key?”

“Yep.”

“Who else has this?”

“Just you, Ms. Grant and Ms. Zor-El.”

“Thank you, Mr...?”

“Oh, Gary Concord Jr.”

“Very well, Mr. Concord, have a lovely day.”

He nodded, blushing slightly, “Ah, uh, y-you two Ms. Mills!” he called after her once he got his bearings but the sorceress just smirked and never looked back.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

With the use of her access card, Regina was able to get into Kara's office without issue and set up her little work area on one of the sofa's that was a few feet away from the large mahogany desk. The potential employee application files for Kara's new staff had been neatly stacked on the CEO's desk and Regina had taken all two hundred and odd something folders and moved them to the coffee table. And given the knowledge that Cat Grant knew Kara's secret, and a whole vault of other secrets by association, she used magic freely. She conjured up her usual morning coffee and a light breakfast and played music from her phone as she worked.

Of course Regina's only goal was to sort through the applicants based on the department they applied for among Kara's staff. There were a lot of reporters and techs that applied, but the amount of assistant applications in there as well. Regina set aside the other piles for her and Kara to sort through together. However, since Regina was the first secretary, she set aside the potential secondary's to be trashed (of course she didn't want to assume anything, and merely set those further away from the rest) and sorted through the top tier assistants to work by her side to ensure that Kara's time as CEO would be as smooth as possible. There were three candidates she marked, and she was sure Kara would be torn between them as well.

Regina, an hour and a half later, was drinking her coffee and reading a CatCo magazine with mild interest over their fall catalog when she felt rather than heard the presence behind her. Regina checked her watch for the time and saw that it was already seven, and that CatCo employee's would be hustling their way into the building by now. She supposed that she lost track of time given that Kara didn't have a staff yet.

And Regina wasn't surprised that Cat Grant showed up early despite being the Queen of this entire media empire, and coming down to check up on Kara already. Regina set the magazine down and smoothed down her dress, ignoring the older CEO's critiquing eye. Regina put on her best smile, her politician's smile as her wife and sister loved to call it.

“Ms. Grant. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm—”

“Irrelevant.”

Regina's eyebrows shot up with surprise briefly at the woman's bluntness and her tone. Her smile morphed into something lesser but still bright as she could force it, “I beg your pardon?”

Cat ignored her as she carefully gave Regina another once over. She seemed to have approved of Regina's attire, not that the Evil Queen would care for this woman's approval one way or the other, “Who are you? And how did you get into this office? I don't remember hiring you.”

“Because you didn't.” Regina drawled coolly, hands on her hips, “Kara Zor-El did. I'm one of her assistants; Regina Mills.”

“Oh,” Cat deadpanned with interest, mixed in with a sneer as realization sparked in the shorter woman's eye, “And have you signed a contract yet, Reginald?”

“It's Regina,” the brunette corrected without missing a beat, “And no, Ms. Zor-El informed me that I would be signing it the moment she arrives at eight thirty.”

“Well la-de-da.” Cat fiddled with her diamond necklace, before sighing as if her day had already been ruined with a salad without a cheeseburger on top, “Regardless...human, witch, alien or _whatever.._ unless specifically instructed otherwise. Your work area is out there, not in here.”

“Of course.” Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and now she was _really_ starting to wonder how Kara put up with the woman for so damn long. Superpower's be damned, this woman would've been thrown over the side of the building already if Regina had been stuck working with her.

The Evil Queen's eye twitched and she had to restrain herself from snarling at the woman—or worse, summoning her magic and doing something incredibly horrible that she'd pretend to regret later for Kara's sake. And Regina was not keen on lying to her Kryptonian puppy.

Cat walked further into the office and took a seat on the sofa opposite of Regina's previously occupied seat, remaining surprisingly quiet until Regina finally sat down again and got comfortable on the sofa despite wanting to the roast the other woman alive.

“So tell me, Reginald, what makes you so special for this position. Besides being a walking _Bewitched_ sitcom.”

Regina inhaled and exhaled deeply as she counted backwards from ten, “I was once a Queen, and I am currently a Mayor in a town that does not exist here in your world. I know what is expected of a secretary seeing as I have one myself. All of this is very much second nature for me.”

“Yes, I've been informed of all of that already. Boring.” Cat paused for a moment, before deciding to move forward to the topic she was more interested in, “Tell me something interesting...as in; do you really think you can handle such a position as this, Regan?”

“How do you mean, Ms. Grant?”

Cat waved her hand around, “Oh you know, with your witch like ways I'm sure you have a spell containing pig's blood for something along the lines of the fountain of youth? Given what basic information Kara has given me...” the Media Queen trailed off, before continuing, "As Kara is very much aware, already, this job is very demanding and  _very public._ "

“I was once a Queen, Ms. Grant, I know the rules of discretion. Trust me, dear, I know. I've killed those who couldn't be bothered to know the rules of _that_ game.” Regina's tone dropped an octave lower during that comment, her thoughts straying to the people of her past, with particularly one woman—but that was a tale for another time.

“Good.” Cat stood from her seat, looking a bit uncomfortable but she was doing a good job of covering it up—but Regina had been torturing and reading people long before this woman was born. She saw right through it, and she couldn't help but preen. _She still had it._ “And I believe this goes without saying...however, there is only one Queen in this building and it's me. If you ever do anything to threaten myself, Kara or CatCo...magic or not, I will bury you.”

“You can't bury a witch, _dear._ ”

Cat scoffed, “That's what Donald thought too—yet look how his election turned out.”

“He lost.”

“You're welcome.” Cat smirked whimsically, “And when my Media Princess decides to grace us all with her presence. Inform her that I want her in my office, chop chop.” with one last sneer and a once over, Cat Grant left the same way she came and Regina watched the scurrilous until she could no longer see her. And for the third time that morning, she checked her watch and picked up the phone to text her wife that she passed the Cat Grant meet and greet.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_Across the city..._

Kara Zor-El was none the wiser of her boss's antics at CatCo...well, her Co-CEO now. She was far too comfortable of being in the embrace of Lena who was still fast asleep behind her, holding her tight against her front. The Kryptonian had woken up before the alarm clock on her phone, so she simply reached over and turned it off before it could go off and wake the brunette behind her. If Kara wasn't an alien with superpowers that were powered by the sun, she'd be exhausted too. They both had a long night just making out and exploring the other's body but they didn't take that step. Not yet at least, they both didn't want their first time to seem rushed—the throbbing that stayed between Kara's legs all night disagreed however.

With a heavy sigh, Kara carefully slipped out of Lena's embrace and smiled when Lena's pale hand held onto her bare thigh for a brief moment before moving to hug Kara's pillow. The young hero took a quick shower, a hot one—taking a cold one wouldn't make much sense since she couldn't feel it anyway. She'd just have to suffer through her day being semi-horny. Wouldn't be the first time when it came to Lena since their relationship first became physical.

Using her super-speed, Kara was dressed and had her backpack ready to go including her journal so that she could finish writing her proposal at work. She was sitting on the sofa in front of the TV watching _Invader Zim,_ and eating a bowl of cereal while her left leg bounced nervously. Today was her first big day. The same day she'd be making calls to potential employees to fill her personal staff, both from within the CatCo network—from all over, not necessarily from the Headquarters in National City—and outside of CatCo.

Kara was on her second bowl of cereal when Lena padded her way into the living room wearing a robe, and it was quite obvious that was she was wearing nothing beneath it and had taken a quick shower seeing as her hair was still wet. Kara must have been so far in her thoughts that she didn't hear Lena get up.

The Kryptonian and the Sorceress shared a quiet unhurried good morning kiss. Lena combed her fingers through Kara's golden locks that she surprisingly had down for the day, “You're going to be late, darling.”

“Supergirl is never late,” Kara tried for a joke but it fell flat due to her mild anxiety, “Is...is it bad to be scared? Just a little?”

Lena shook her head, now playing with the hairs on the back of Kara's neck in attempt to soothe her, “No, not at all. It's perfectly normal to be scared, it means that you're going to take your job seriously and that you care. And from my understanding, you're going to be making your own path with this new position.”

“Yeah, following Ms. Grant's basic instructions...and I know how CatCo works in and out, but I just...what if I screw it all up?”

“You won't, I promise that you won't.”

“How can you promise that?”

Lena smiled and kissed her girlfriend again, “Because you have me, and Regina to help you out. And Ms. Grant. And you're smart, Kara. And you’ve earned this position, you were a troop before you became an officer. That's an experience you can use to make sure that you're employee's are giving you one hundred and ten percent and that you are also treating them right. And as I've said before, it is going to be a rough start but you're not alone. Never alone.”

“Thank you, Morgana,” Kara pulled Lena into a tight hug, “Um, I should probably get going now. I'll see you later tonight for dinner and Uno?”

“Does chicken Alfredo sound good to you? Maybe with a side of Caesar salad and cake for dessert?” Lena asked as she walked Kara to the garage, watching as she prepared to mount her death trap on two wheels (Lena swore she'd find a way to destroy that damned thing).

Kara's stomach growled at the thought of that wonderful home-cooked meal, “I should just break my lease and move in.”

“I thought you already did that, darling,” Lena's smile widened as she saddled up next to the alien, and pulled her in for second hug and goodbye kiss, this time Kara was fully aware of the near naked body pressed against her. Lena stepped away before the kiss could get too heated, and make Kara more late than she probably already was—or was about to be. She picked up Kara's helmet and shoved it into her dazed girlfriend's hands, “Drive safely, and tell my scheming sister I said hello.”

Kara nodded, her goofy smile firmly in place as she watched the Sorceress saunter back into her home and close the door behind her. Finally, she licked her lips and put on her helmet and mounted her lime green Ducati. It was showtime, and she was now feeling more confident than she did five minutes ago.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

The Guardian and Mon-El were both in full regalia and waiting outside of Kara's apartment building with a handful of DEO Agents two blocks away for back-up. However, after hours and hours of waiting Mon-El's patience finally wore out as he tossed his last crumpled paper with his later doodling into the the overflowing trash bin of crumpled papers.

“Are you guys sure that this chick lives here?!”

James sighed loudly, forcing his eyes away from the screen to look at his field partner but Winn just rolled his eyes and pulled his cap further down in front of her eyes to block out the sun. “For the last time, yes. Sometimes she's out as Supergirl and—”

“There haven’t been any 'Supergirl' sightings since her little chat with Alex. How do we know she's not in there sleeping? We could have bagged her already.”

“Oh yeah, because you're such an expert to take on Supergirl.” Winn retorted from the driver's seat of the van, “Besides, the thermal sensors don't lie. Kara is a walking space heater—we would've been alerted by now if she was up there.”

Mon-El chose to let Winn's first comment slide, only because he liked the brown haired man—and he was the designer for his suit, “Alright, so why aren’t there looking for her? We know what she looks like, it won't be hard—”

“J'onn wants this job done quietly, dude.” James replied drily, he was fed up with Mon-El's attitude. Normally on a daily basis, he was able to tolerate the Daxamite but being stuck in a small, overly warm area for hours with the man was proving to be a bit of a challenge than the vigilante expected. “Besides, we don't wanna pick a fight with Supergirl. We just wanna talk.”

“Speak for yourself, _Jimmy,”_ Mon-El scoffed, “Hey...since you want to talk so bad. How about you go and talk to that guy across the street? He's been standing there, staring at us for ten minutes now.”

Both Winn and James snapped into gear before Mon-El could finish his sentence, James looking at the monitor the Daxamite was looking at and Winn peering out of the window. The man that Mon-El was referring to was wearing a dark navy blue suit with a red tie and a brown leather satchel over his broad shoulders. His dark hair was slicked back with a one stray lock poking out over his forehead. Winn swore loudly, eyes wide and James scrambled to put his helmet on while Mon-El looked between the two with confusion, asking what the hell their deal was but neither could readily answer.

Because 'that guy across the street' was Kara's cousin; The Man of Steel and he did not look happy.

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, look at that, I updated. I don't have anything to say other than I've been tired lately, and sick. I'm starting to feel better and here I am. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the turn of events going on.
> 
> Please ignore all my mistakes, and see you all next chapter. I won't take a month to update this time, cause I'm already starting it.
> 
> C_S


	23. Burning Bridges and Crossing New Rivers

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

Kara was taking the familiar route she always took when she was going to work, except she wasn't leaving from her apartment but from the outskirts of National City and she's never really been so grateful for the simple route, despite it being longer. She was on two wheels, and she was able to weave in and out of traffic with ease—and she mostly ignored the honks and the swears directed in her direction.

Currently Kara had twenty minutes left to make to CatCo in time, and she was only ten to fifteen minutes away thankfully. Enough time for her to stop by Noonan's and pick up her second breakfast. As Kara sat between two cars at a red-light leaning on her gas tank daydreaming about all of the sticky buns she could eat at once. The Kryptonian completely unaware of a familiar yet unmarked police vehicle sitting a few cars behind her containing a smiling Detective Sawyer in the driver's seat with a curious partner in the passenger's seat.

“That's going to be my wife's future boss? Sawyer, that's the kid we arrested the other night?!”

Maggie snorted, but nodded anyway unable to wipe the smile off of her face. After the leaked news feed of Alex,in her all black DEO military uniform, attempting to shoot the young hero out of the sky with Kryptonite and failing—Maggie sent Alex a text that ended everything between them. For good. There was no doubt in Maggie's mind about who leaked that footage, as it didn't have a watermark—but the message was received loud and clear by the people all over America and the rest of the world as well.

But Maggie was more surprised and disappointed in her now ex-girlfriend than she was with the shady government unit she was working for. She expected a betrayal like that at some point, but from Alex? Kara's own sister? Maggie wasn't afraid to admit that she was disgusted. As much as Alex fretted over Kara and her safety, how often she claimed that she could not and would not live without Kara, that she loved that kid too much. _Well._ She sure had such a shitfire way of saying it. And now, in hindsight, Maggie should have realized it sooner. Hell, she did. The moment Alex lost her cool when they ran into Kara and Lena at the zoo. ( Maggie has still yet to find anything concrete on that woman, even with the assistance of facial recognition).

Maggie Sawyer was disowned when she was a teenager by her family when they discovered that she was gay, and refused to conform. It took Maggie years to learn that family wasn't just blood and Alex knew how much the Detective valued family disregarding the fact that she didn't really have one outside of NCPD. To see Alex mistreat her sister that was so much like a puppy, a very loyal and loving puppy—it made Maggie's skin crawl. But deep down, she knew that Alex really did love Kara but it was years of passive verbal abuse from her mother that twisted that love into something... _just something._ Alex needed help. It was a type of help that neither Kara or Maggie could give, and if Alex remained tied to the DEO and Hank Henshaw—she would probably never get the help she needed.

The Detective was just proud and relieved that Kara was strong enough to not allow Alex and the DEO to steamroll her. And she suspected that the mysterious woman, Lena, had something to do with it. And the other two that were there at the police station that night. Maggie just hoped that she'd be able to meet them one day herself, informally that is.

Maggie exhaled deeply, her smile had slowly melted away as she turned to her partner, “That kid is stronger and wiser than she seems. Maria will like her, I promise.”

Natasha simply raised an eyebrow, but she didn't look entirely too convinced. She had a retort ready on the tip of her tongue but a loud boom nearly made their ears ring, and shook the entire street. And the cause of the early morning disruption quickly made itself known as Superman went hurtling through a skyscraper and into another one, but thankfully he didn't go flying out of that one. Natasha grabbed her service weapon and turned up the CB radio while Maggie flipped the sirens and forced her way out of the traffic and into oncoming traffic like a pro.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Kara heard the fight long before Kal-El went soaring through two buildings. Kara didn't have time to question why her cousin was back in her city because she spotted the two idiots from the day before using her x-ray vision. Kara didn't even have time to pull out her phone to let Cat know she was going to be late, but with Superman flying halfway across the city like a rag doll would be all over the headlines soon enough. Kara revved her engine loudly before peeling off and running a red light. She didn't go too far, just enough to park her bike safely near an alley where she could change without being seen.

As Kara Zor-El transformed into her [super-suit](https://cerberus-spectre.tumblr.com/post/165573450862/hells-yeah) she noticed a hint of dark purple smoke around her body and when she was done not one second later, she looked down at herself and gasped loudly. She knew Lena wanted to really give her super-suit a full make-over but this...this was better than the last suit. On her wrists curled all the way to her bare biceps, were the golden Charged Sunstone Bracers that Lena had once mentioned that would keep her charged up faster. And the Kryptonian neck guard was new too, and she was already starting to feel the sun's powers flowing through her body.

But what struck her shocked was the color change. No longer was she sharing her cousins colors, of red and blue but now she had her own favorite colors. White and gold, and Kara felt so beautiful...so...herself. And she wondered when Lena even had time to even do this, but it didn't matter now, Kara was going to thank that woman for the rest of her life for helping her close one chapter of her life. And helping her write a new one, her way.

Supergirl took to the sky with a shit eating grin, those DEO newbies had another thing coming. She may hate Clark right now, but no one hit her cousin like that except for her. And it was time to show the DEO that she was _not_ the pushover they met the first time she was shot out of the sky by them and their Kryptonite guns.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Kara landed in front of the lead armored man and the buffoon with with the stupid glasses wearing tactical gear. Out of the two of them, and from what she's seen the day before with the meta-humans. The man with the silly glasses was the one who knocked Kal-El a new jaw. The two were backed by a squadron of DEO Agents, including J'onn and Alex.

And it seemed as if no one could take their eyes off of National City's Guardian Angel. And that is exactly what Supergirl looked like now—A Guardian Angel. An enraged one. It seemed as if an eternity passed and an imaginary tumbleweed blew across the street between Kara and what seemed like a quarter of the DEO, and their supposed heavy hitters.

Both of the CatCo helicopters were now hovering in the air above them, and it seemed as if the people who were hanging out on the sidewalks didn't have any self preservation about the upcoming fight that was about to happen. The standoff was tense, and Kara refused to make the first step. The DEO kept coming for her. And so if this was going to be their final standoff, then they would have to throw the first punch.

J'onn was the first to recover and stepped forward, walking between The Guardian and his sidekick with his chest puffed out with a bravado that Kara once admired, now it just annoyed her because now she could see through the man he pretended to be and to the very martian that he was.

“Supergirl. The games stop here and now, it's time for you to come with us. You've been rogue for _weeks_ now and I will not have an anonymous superhero in this city. You're a liability in the field and—”

“Liability in the field?” Kara huffed, and crossed her arms, “I don't work for you, never have and never will! My cousin was right about you, J'onn. You and the rest of the government can't be trusted. You're worse than Cadmus! At least they _knew_ they were evil!”

J'onns dark eyes narrowed at her, “Do you remember what happened the last time you tried to be a hero on your own, Supergirl? Your _family,”_ he spat, “almost nuked National City.”

Just then, Kara heard tires screeching to a stop behind her, from multiple vehicles. Kara chanced a glance over her shoulder and she was shocked to see that she had a bunch of marked and unmarked NCPD vehicles behind and police officers lining up her weapons. However, to her great surprise, they were not aiming at her...but at J'onn and the DEO Agents behind him. Kara spotted Maggie, and the shorter woman walked up to the superhero's side with a determined expression wearing a black vest with NCPD in bold white letters on the front of it.

It was obvious that this was an unexpected turn of events, but J'onn wasn't going to back down. Not with the higher ups breathing down his neck to bring Kara back in and prove that he could still do his job—and also keep his own secret. He refused to be hunted down like an animal _again_. He refused to give Amanda Waller the satisfaction.

“Detective, what do you think you are doing?” behind him, Alex was starting to sweat bullets. It wasn't supposed to go down like this, and suddenly she wasn't so sure. They were losing traction with the situation too fast and it was a matter of time before someone really got hurt, or worse.

“Protecting one of our own.” Maggie hooked her thumbs into her front belt loops and shrugged, “I don't know what your deal is with Supergirl, Director, but she's done nothing wrong. Unlike tin man and Superboy there (Kara bristled and muttered under her breath; “His name is _Superboy?!”)._ And quite frankly, I think I can speak for the majority of National City when I say that we prefer Supergirl, our Guardian Angel, over those two.”

It was then when Superman finally awoke from his 'nap' and joined his cousin and NCPD in the standoff against the DEO. Kal-El immediately approved of his cousins super-suit, the white and gold color scheme fit her far better than his red and blue—and he was finally starting to see the hero that Kara was now and was going to become in the future. And on his other side, Detective Romanoff stepped off with two service pistols in her hand. She was itching for a good fight and this seemed like one, a familiar one—but thankfully this standoff wasn't at an empty airport with a man that could shrink down to the size of an ant or a giant.

“It's over J'onn.” Superman said in his best, _'justice will prevail!'_ tone. It was corny and made Kara want to laugh but she managed to keep it down to a smile, “This is all between me and you, leave Supergirl out of this!”

The alien wearing Hank Henshaw's face scowled at the two superheroes, “Supergirl stepped into this the moment she went rogue!”

“J'onn-”

“I'm not the enemy here, Superman!” the martian bellowed over the growing crowd, and extra NCPD vehicles arriving and the helicopters hovering above their positions. It was clear that he was no longer being as discreet as the government wanted him to be, but he refused to back down. He would come out of this situation on top, the government was making moves in the shadows and he couldn't afford to be left out. Not if he wanted to protect his friends. His friends who both currently standing on the wrong side of the red tape. “Don't make me the enemy today, Kal-El. We're on the same side.”

Clark growled, fists clenching at his sides so tightly his knuckles cracked and Maggie winced at the sound, “Is that why you tried to shoot my cousin out of the air with Kryptonite bullets?!”

“They were tranquilizers.” Alex defended uselessly as she came up to the DEO director's side with a standard M14 in her grasp, “He's right, we're not the enemy here, we're all on the same side.” Alex stated, staring deeply into Kara's icy blue eyes but Kara wasn't hearing it. (and in various parts of the city, there were two witches on stand by ready to fry Alex Danvers as they watched the interaction via magic and TV. And there was a dragon ready to jump through a portal).

Besides him, Natasha scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I've heard _that_ one before. Look if it's all fine and dandy with the rest of you, talking isn’t going to get us very far so let's just fight it out _then_ talk.”

Alex scoffed, and J'onn was looking the short red-haired woman with contempt but it was Mon-El who forcefully pushed passed the two DEO Director's, and tossed aside his glasses. “Enough talking! Supergirl, Superman! You two are coming with the DEO! And Captain Underpants is mine!”

Superman growled and met Mon-El halfway and that's when all hell broke loose.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_At CatCo HQ..._

Cat Grant couldn't believe the outbreak she was seeing that was happening less than fifteen minutes away from her empire. CatCo was covering the media, live streaming it from four reporters with their cell phones, who had been on their way to work when the incident began to take place. And the two CatCo Choppers that were hovering in the air.

CatCo's server's were on the verge of crashing due to the traffic of viewers all around National City and it was spreading like a virus across the world and Cat already headlined it. **_The Government vs. Superhero's._** From the conversation that had been picked up between the two groups, that's exactly what was happening. And Cat knew that the issues were running far deeper than sibling rivalry and the moment Supergirl stepped off the train—it was all coming to light.

And suddenly, Kara's magazine proposal was sounding even better than before. And given Supergirl's renovated super-suit (again), she was truly looking like an angel now. And things were about to change for better or for worse—but Cat already knew which side she was on. She has far too many corrupt politicians by the balls in her little black book to know better. This was a fight Cat has seen coming for years now.

The Media Queen quickly turned around when another presence was suddenly in her office, she turned and saw that Kara's assistance, Regina, was standing there calmly—a sight given the chaos happening behind her. The interns and employees alike were running around to keep up with the massive events going on outside, and to keep the servers from crashing completely.

“Shouldn't you be downstairs doing voodoo? Where no one can see you?”

Regina winced, rubbing her temples tiredly and stepped closer to the CEO, “Lena is doing everything she can, and I've lent her some of my magic—their using Kryptonite bullets down there, but there is not much else we can do right now.”

Suddenly the floor beneath them shook violently for a brief moment, and both Queen's (in their own right of course) turned towards the multiple TV's behind Cat, and saw Superman had once again been knocked out of the fight, this time out of the city. Leaving Supergirl to the man in the metal suit and the alien or Metahuman that seemed to have super strength. Enough to knock out a super. The gunfire had ceased, thankfully, and it was just a showdown between Supergirl and the two unknown government experiments. That is, until a redhead ran up behind Supergirl and used the hero's shoulders to launch herself onto the tin man's shoulders and took him down brutally with her thighs alone and managed to land on her feet.

While his partner was distracted, Supergirl froze the man with her super breath before spinning around and kicking his in the chest, breaking the ice and knocking him out cold. (pun not intended). It seemed as if everything was under control as the government in all black gathered their injured and made a full retreat with their tails tucked between their legs but it was clear that this, whatever it was, was not over. Cat released a deep breath, unaware that she was holding it in. She sank down into her chair, and Regina sat in a guest chair with a huff of sudden exhaustion.

With Cat's office door being closed, none of her employee's were brave enough to actually knock and enter—so the chaos remained while it was eerily quiet in the CEO's office. That is until a soft pop startled them both and Regina turned to find her sister standing out on the balcony and she did not look happy. And Cat was just about to demand who the hell she was but the arrival of Supergirl cut off her potential rant.

Regina watched Lena and Kara pull each other into a tight embrace on the privacy of Cat's balcony while the CEO [watched](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4jFtrfcwg2o/maxresdefault.jpg) with awe and pride as she put the pieces together while getting to her feet and slowly approached the couple once they broke apart for air—more so for Lena, than Kara.

Cat held out her hand to Lena without saying a word and both Kara and Regina stared in shock (and Regina wondered why the hell _she_ didn't get that greeting). Lena straightened her spine, and accepted Cat's acknowledgment firmly.

Kara waited a beat or two until they were done, “Next time the DEO won't give in so easily...I..I'm...” she ran her hands through her hair, blowing out a loud sigh, “I don't think it's a good idea for me to take this job, Cat. I mean, there is something going on and the last thing I want to do is put you, Carter and CatCo in jeopardy.”

Cat shook her head, “I appreciate your concern, Supergirl, but let me worry about my son. And as for _our_ company, the government won't touch us.”

“Cat are you even listening-”

“They'd be fools to start a war with the media, Kara. Have I taught you nothing?” Cat rolled her eyes and sat down in a patio chair while Kara and Lena took a bench across from her. Regina continued to stand, subtly placing herself between them and any employee who was brave enough to even get close enough to the glass walls and try to peek.

Lena placed her hand on Kara's bouncing knee to calm her down, and she knew that in the privacy of their home (Morgana practically purred at the thought of making that officially official), that they'd be having a very specific talk that didn't involve words, “She's right, sweetheart, in all of my years through many time-lines. I've only seen the government head against the media twice. And lose. Both times. They won't touch you but...there isn’t a guaranteed safety for any other superhero.”

Regina nodded, “It seems as if they are trying to make an example of you, Puppy.”

Cat raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but decided not to comment. _This time,_ “That proposal...is it ready?”

Kara nodded quickly, having forgotten all about it, “Yes, I...I spent all night working on it, but Cat...are you sure you want to do this?”

“I've abandoned you once, and you went on a bend. I won't do it again.”

Lena smiled at the possessive glint in the CEO's eye—and any other time she would’ve been jealous and plotting Cat Grant's murder. But now that she was up close and able to see her, she saw that Cat's claim was more out of maternal need than attraction.

“I...thank you, Cat. I promise, I won't let you down.”

“I know you won't...but for now, take a few days to collect yourself and-”

“No.” Kara got to her feet and used her super-speed to redress in her civilian clothes, “No more vacation days, no more avoiding the reality! I'm done running, and I'm done hiding!”

Cat blinked slowly, and Regina smiled proudly at her little puppy and Lena felt the pride for her girlfriend grow even more if that was at all possible now, “What are you saying Kara?”

“I...”, Kara looked at Lena, then at Regina before making eye contact with Cat once more. This was Kara's moment of truth, and there would be no turning back. But what would she be turning back to anyway? The friends she thought she knew and loved, the human's she thought of as family—all turned their backs on her when she needed them the most. And as much as she wanted to hate them, she couldn't. Because then she wouldn't have met her _real_ Earth family and the woman she loved. She would have never considered allowing her career to rise this high. So no, Kara didn't hate them—but instead she pitied them.

She was never good enough for them. Until she she met Lena and her small close knit family. They took her as she was, and never judged her. They accepted that she had skeletons in her past that were worse than the other, and never questioned it. Kara was never good enough until she was...

And she refused to look back. Her Kryptonian family was dead, but at least Clark was _trying_ now. That's all she had ever asked for from him. And now all she has to do is look forward to her future, the future that was now in her hands.

“Baby? Are you alright?”

Kara smiled, squeezing Lena's hand back unaware that the Sorceress was now standing close by her side, concerned. Kara exhaled happily, and her smile was bright as ever, “Cat do you remember that billion dollar question you asked me last night?”

“Yes, of course. I'm not that old...” Regina scoffed under her breath and Cat pretended she didn't hear, eyes trained on her Co-CEO intently, “Kara?”

“If it ever comes down to that...my answer is yes.”

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet some of you are like WTF bruh?! Lol, I was like that the entire time I was writing this chapter. But I really felt as if that standoff had been coming for a minute, just...eh, I'm okay with how it turned out. I threw in some pretty obvious easter eggs, but it won't take away from the main focus which is SuperCorp. I'll let your imaginations run wild with that with the whole government thing. 
> 
> I'll be doing a partial filler chapter to follow up with this one, and time a skip (like a week) so heads up there.
> 
> As you all know, this story is coming to a close. 7 more chapters, and I'm gonna make them count. SO! I am taking smut requests for the last 7 chapters, take note of the tags and hit me with your best!
> 
> C_S
> 
> PS-Kara's Supersuit image is actually from my Injustice 2 game archive. I just took a screenshot, cause I really love that suit...just...ignore the creepy god eyes. lol. Bye!


	24. The Antonym of Secret? It's Kara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate chapter title; 
> 
> What Is The Definition Of "Secret" (Kara Doesn't F*cking Know Anymore)

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

Director Henshaw was pissed, but that would be an understatement of the goddamn century. The level of his fury didn't even have a word, not on Earth nor on any other planet. He was embarrassed not only in front of his own soldiers but on live television where other soldiers around the world could see his face and his ultimate failure. And not only soldiers that he did not know, but the politicians that he's worked closely with—the same politicians that funded his superiors pockets. The ladder went up and as low as the mind could imagine. And J'onn knew—he knew that his career as Hank Henshaw was over. Everything he's ever worked hard for was over.

His agency was in chaos, there were injured DEO Agent's filling up the infirmary, including Superboy and The Guardian. The NCPD Detective that attacked James nearly broke his neck when she took him down, but the only thing that saved the man's life was his armor. It took most of the impact and he was still seriously injured, but he wasn't dead. The same could not be said for Mon-El, his heart stopped beating twice before they finally got him back to the doctors at the base.

And J'onn wondered if Supergirl did that purposefully or if it was just in the heat of the moment—but in the end, it didn't really matter. She was still a superhero that went rogue. Just like her cousin, just like Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. The only difference was...the failed attempts to apprehend them have been very quiet and off the books.

Supergirl's attempted arrest was a circus and threatened the very operation of the DEO and every other off the record government operations spread throughout the country. Superman showing up was a wild card—after Alex informed them that calling Superman to reign in Kara proved to be useless, they never expected to see the man again. It was a gamble they lost. Very publicly. And it was no surprise to J'onn when the chaos outside of his office suddenly went quiet as if someone pressed the mute button and his Deputy Director, Alex Danvers, walked in...followed closely by General Sam Lane and Amanda Waller.

Alex made brief eye contact with him before take a stance in the corner just out of his sight next to his bookshelf while Amanda and General Lane took a seat in the chairs in front of his desk. And the smug look on their faces, especially Amanda's, made him sick to his stomach but there wasn't anything he could do. Not after what went down on live TV via CatCo and other news stations...mainly CatCo. And knowing Cat Grant and her claim and protectiveness over both Supergirl and Kara, and J'onn wasn't a fool to think that the woman wasn't aware that they were one and the same, he was done tens times over. They all were.

“ You failed to deliver your promise, Henshaw.”

The DEO Director met Amanda's gaze steadily, “The DEO is not the only division that has failed to bring in unsanctioned superheroes.”

General Lane scoffed, “No, but you're the only division that managed to fuck up so badly and on live television. Cat Grant is eating this up, and we gotta make our clients happy.”

J'onn nodded solemnly, “I understand. Just tell me what I need to do, and I will make sure it will happen.” he hated rolling over and exposing his belly to the two sharks sitting across his desk, but he overplayed his hand today and this was the price he was going to have to pay to correct his mistake. Though unbeknownst to him, it was not the only massive mistake he'd be making today, one that could and probably will cost his life. Trusting his partner.

Amanda Waller smiled. That sort of smile that could make anyone's skin crawl, but J'onn was too noble to go snooping in her mind to find out just what she was going to be up to in the near future. “I'm glad you said that, Director Henshaw, because you're the perfect man for the job.”

“ And what is this job?”

“ Well,” General Lane glanced at Alex momentarily as he shifted in his seat, seemingly to get more comfortable, “The higher ups want an alien. They didn't specify whether they wanted a Thanagarian or a Kryptonian but we've recently acquired some new information on...on an ol' classic type of alien you can say.”

“ What new alien is on this planet that DEO doesn’t already know about?” J'onn asked cautiously, his gun hand twitching and Amanda noticed but she only continued to smile.

“ On Earth, we just call them the little green men...but you're not so little are you, Martian?”

It only took J'onn a split second to spring into action without hesitation but Alex was much faster than he was, and she putt more than a hundred and ten watts into his system. The alien in disguise had no chance, and those ten seconds of electricity flowing into his body through his neck felt like an eternity but it was long enough for him to completely lose control of himself and he shifted.

And it was then when Alex took a step back, and the martian groaned before hitting the cold, concrete floor unconsciously with a loud thud. The brunette looked at the two that were still sitting with looks of shock, awe, and disgust on their faces. “I told you. I was good for it. I delivered you an alien, and now it's your turn.”

General Lane and Amanda shared a look before Amanda stood as General Lane left the room and his men shortly came in after to collect J'onn and take him somewhere secure. Once the room was empty, Amanda nodded at Alex, “Well done, Director Danvers. You've held up your end of the deal, now I'll do the same. The DEO is now under your command but General Lane and I will be dropping in time to time and I expect weekly reports.”

“ Of course.”

“ Good...though, I am curious, what makes you more qualified to bring in Supergirl than... _ him?” _

Alex smiled, “I grew up with her. I know her better than she knows herself. It will take a bit of time, but I'll deliver Supergirl and she will be on the right side of this fight.”

“ Should I be worried about familial ties between the two of you?”

Alex sighed heavily, shaking her head. “No, I won't get distracted. I love my sister, and I've tried to do things the easy way but I know that in order to save her life. She needs tough love to come home, to her real friends and family that love her.”

Amanda nodded while wondering if Alex really believed herself but Amanda wasn't going to say anything. As long as things went according to plan, she didn't care how batshit her officers were. “I'll be sending you a task force within a month, Director. In the meanwhile, leave Supergirl be. Observe through the shadows only until given authorization for further contact, understood?”

“ Understood, ma’am.”

Amanda nodded, and left the new Director's office and left the door open. Leaving Alex to her own thoughts of what she's just done, and what she was about to do. But there would be no time for regrets now. The tall brunette sank down into J'onn’s... _ her  _ new chair and smiled.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_ A week and a half later after the standoff and the DEO impromptu change of command... _

Kara had taken a quick shine to her new position as Co-CEO at CatCo. She had her entire personal staff filled with people who were beyond average just like she was. From techs, to editors, photographers and field reporters alike. Her floor was running quite smoothly, especially given the fact that Cat and the board has given Kara multiple green lights on her hero column project. The government may be after heroes with superpowers but they couldn't do a thing about the heroes wearing badges and uniforms. There were heroes all over the world, sometimes they wore red and blue and gold and white. Sometimes they could fly and wield a magic rope powered by unseen Gods and Goddess. But more often than not, they wore red and yellow as they charged into fires. Sometimes they wore blue as they sped through the streets to run into danger head first. And sometimes, it could be the person standing in front of you and paying it forward so that the person behind them could do the same for the one behind  _ them. _

Kara's pitch to the board was hope filled and moving, practical and just what CatCo needed. And Cat couldn't have been more proud of the way her protege presented herself before the beady, judgmental eyes of the overbearing men that made up CatCo's board. She knew Kara was more than capable, but she still had plans to step in if she were needed. And she was not. Cat watched Kara from her seat at the head of the table closely—there had been a change in Kara. Something's that's always been there really, buried deep down inside, but it's never really truly shown itself until then. It was beautiful and she hoped to whatever god was listening that it would never go away.

Kara smiled at the memory of Cat hugging her close after Kara shook the hands of the board members who were a little  _ too  _ eager to meet her. It was a great day, one of the best days of her life.

“ Ms. Zor-El?”

Kara looked up to see her second assistant, Maria Hill, in front of her desk. The woman may have been wheelchair bound, but damn was she scary. The first time Kara met the woman, during their interview, Maria was very honest with her. She told her how she was once a boss of a major, yet secrete, company that had long since crumbled. Though she never did give a name, but the licensed hand gun that was sitting in the pocket of her wheelchair gave Kara enough of an idea of what the woman used to do. And why she was in a wheelchair.

And anything to do with government Agent's would’ve had Kara dismissing Maria the moment she figured it out—but gut instinct told Kara that she could trust Maria. To trust that all too knowing look in the woman's gaze. Regina liked her too. Which was good, because Regina hated every other candidate.

“ You can call me Kara, Maria.”

“ I know, you mentioned it plenty of times already.”

“ So how come you haven’t? I'm not gonna bite your head off? It makes me feel old when people call me 'Ms. Zor-El'. It's weird.”

Maria scoffed, “I'll work on it. Anyway, Skye's here. Says she has something important to show you. She sounded...more hyper than usual, you might want to check it out soon because she blips on Cat's radar again.”

Kara chuckled, Cat was definitely not happy that Kara hired a hacker and a ex-felon as her lead tech analyst—but the girl was good. She fixed CatCo's security and servers in two days and saved the company who knows amount of money from the sharks known as professionals. Skye wasn't on Cat's good side, but she earned a probation period of three months.

“ Alright, I'll head down now then I'm going out to lunch with my girlfriend and some friends. Um, Maria? Why aren’t you at lunch?”

“ It's my turn to man the office and the phones. Regina and I worked out a system the second day. Enjoy your lunch, Ms. Zor-El.”

“ I'll bring you back something to eat, you're a vegan right?”

Maria wasn't shocked that Kara had already figured out her choice of diet. She's seen the way her boss ate, it was no surprise that Kara had scoped out everyone else and their preferred food choice. Maria would never admit it, but given all the junk and high calories Kara put away a day and still managed to look like a runway model—she was a little green around the gills with friendly envy.

“ Yeah, but you don't have to bring me back anything. I’ve already brought—”

“ Pft, that rabbit food you call a meal? As if. I'm bringing you back a big fat vegan filled burrito with cheese. Lots of cheese. And you're not lactose intolerant. You drink milk.”

Maria rolled her eyes as she turned her wheelchair around with Kara following her back to her desk. The girl was a mess, but she was an adorable puppy mess that she just couldn't say no to. And her wife, Natasha, just couldn't understand it. (and she wouldn't, not until she's officially met Kara Zor-El) and Regina had warned her. She warned Maria that her hard shell, resting bitch face would have no ground to stand on with Kara. The brunette was a bit of a smart-ass, a lot really, but she was absolutely right.

Kara Zor-El was a goddamn menace.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Kara stopped by her lead IT's cubicle that was on the far, far side of the floor next to the emergency stairs. Skye looked away from her computer screens as Kara knocked gently on one of the cubicle walls as she bopped the Skye's hula girl odd . One of many the young hacker had already.

“ Maria said you had something for me to see?”

Skye nodded, and began typing rapidly on her hello kitty keyboard, “You know how we're working on getting the hero column—”

“ We're not calling it that.”

“ Well,  _ you  _ aren’t but the rest of us are.”

“ The rest of us? Who?”

Skye grinned at her bosses worried tone, “Don't worry, it's still hush hush, but all the moving around has the rest of CatCo curious. And you know? I thought this job was gonna be boring and I was gonna quit in three days.”

“ But...?”

Skye just shrugged, “Working for Supergirl turned out to be cooler than I expected, and the pay is better than the last job I had. I get to pay the rent  _ and  _ eat at the same time.”

Kara stared down at her employee with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing as if she were some sort of fish on display and she couldn't get her mind to work. To deny the obvious. She knew she's been slacking with appearing normal since the stand off not too long ago, but Kara didn't think she has been  _ that  _ obvious. Kara was aware that she, Cat and her family were planning on her coming out as Supergirl eventually but; “ _ Shit. _ ..how did—”

“ You pay me to notice and find things wrong and abnormal within the CatCo system—worldwide. I'm a hacker. Hacking requires a keen eye for detail, Kara. On and off the screen,” Skye turned around in her chair to look up at her gaping boss fully, hoping that her smile was reassuring, “I...I didn't mean to freak you out but I knew it was you the moment I walked into your office eight days ago for my interview. I just couldn't not tell you anymore but as far as anyone else here knowing? I don't know...and even if they did, no one is talking. What you're trying to do here? It's...awesome, and besides. If Cat Grant is keeping it quiet, then the quick buck isn’t worth being blacklisted all over the world. I mean, let's face it. That woman has more power than the president.”

Kara blew out hot air as she perched herself on the edge of Skye's desk next to her chair, scratching her cheek, “How did you know though? Was I wearing my glasses?”

Skye snorted, but thankfully she didn't say what she was thinking out loud—she didn't need to, Kara knew the glasses were the least helpful part of her disguise, “You saved me from a burning building. I wasn't in it, but I lived in the van that was parked in the alley and the building was coming down and—”

“ Your engine wouldn't start. I remember.”

Skye nodded, and the two shared a moment of silence. It wasn't tense, more like neither of them really knew what to say after that. Skye coughed lightly, turning back to her computer screen, “Uh...this is what I wanted to show you, Kara.”

The young CEO peered down at the screen, it appeared to be a blog of sorts but she had no idea what for or why she was looking at it, “Uh...what exactly is this?”

“ This is the tier one heroes blog. Found it on the darknet, it's been active for five years now. They all use this system to communicate to stay out of each other's territory and such. There are a lot of names on here, and I thought you’d like to know about it once the hero column gets going officially—you might wanna include these guys...and girls.”

Kara nodded, that was a pretty sound idea. Though she wasn't naive to think that these heroes would want to do an interview right off the back. They were using the darknet for a particular reason, but she would find a way to make them come to her rather than she go to them.  _ Hmm, maybe Cat really is rubbing off on me.  _ “Email that to me, but uh...can you explain to me about this tier one thing means?”

Skye smirked, quickly shooting her boss the secure link and shutting down her screen. “Alright, so basically there is like a five tier system for both heroes and villains. One being the lowest and five being the highest. Like the highest, of the highest.”

“ I see...that's...that's new.”

Skye shook her head, “It's not actually, it's how the government keeps track of their targets...hacker, remember? Anyway, tier one is street level stuff. Heroes with no real powers. Just fancy suits, ninja skills and a badge or mask. Then you have tier two which is mostly like genetically modified humans, which I guess makes up most of tier three as well. Except tier three heroes are stronger, and faster than tier two heroes.”

“ And tier four and five?”

“ Tier four is like...Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and you and Superman...though, you are actually on the government's tier five list.”

“ Why? Superman and I have the same powers?”

“ But you're stronger, and faster than he is. You also have knowledge that makes him a far less worthy opponent. Plus, he has a weakness...and you don't. At least not anymore. Tier fives are gods...and you are now considered one, Kara.”

Kara worried her bottom lip thoughtfully, then sighed heavily, “Send all of that to my email too. I'll go over it when I come back from lunch...speaking of, have you eaten yet?”

“ I ordered a pizza not too long ago, it should be here soon.”

Kara nodded and smiled as she began to retreat towards the elevators, not bothering going back to her office to take her private one, but she stopped and smiled at the young brunette, “Thank you, Skye.”

Skye blushed, and ducked her head slightly but she didn't say anything but she didn't need to. Kara could feel the girl's own gratitude rolling off of her in waves, and that was enough for the Kryptonian.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

When Kara arrived to Lena's bar, she was a little surprised that she managed to beat Maggie there. After getting sidetracked with Skye, Kara was sure she was going to be the last one to show up but no. Maggie's unmarked NCPD vehicle was nowhere in sight when she arrived, but Lena was already there thankfully so Kara didn't have to sit alone and look awkward.

Kara slid into the booth next to Lena, and the witch smiled into to their sweet kiss right before Mike interrupted them when he brought over Kara's preferred drink. Lena glared at him, but the man was oblivious with his kicked puppy expression. It was no secret that he had a crush on the blonde, but Lena was making it known that he had no chance in hell.

“ How is your day so far, Morgana?”

“ Better, now that you're here.”

Kara laughed, “That was a little corny—totally something I would say.”

Lena smirked, and downed the last of her wine before refilling her glass halfway, “And how was your day, my love?”

“ Still busy, but...it's like being on Cat's floor. Except I'm on the other side of the glass. I like it. It's...different, but in a good way.”

“ And your project? Still going well?”

Kara nodded, shrugging off her riding jacket and Lena took it and set it aside next to her purse, “Yeah, it's actually on track still. Cat wants a final report on everything, of course, but she's leaving it all up to me. It's...scary and exciting at the same time.”

Lena could see it in her girlfriend's eyes and in her face, the trepidation mixed with exhilaration. She could see it and feel it from a mile away, and she was so proud of Kara. In such a short amount of time, Kara has been through her fair share of trials and errors. Along with griefs and betrayals, and yet she's managed to overcome them to become the woman fate meant for her to be. The woman her mother and her aunt wished for her to be. The woman that her uncle and his followers, her foster family and her so called friends never wanted her to be.

The young hero lost her home world at such a young age. And lost her blood family, _twice._ And another family here on Earth. And Morgana was utterly shocked she wasn't a villain by now. Kara was the strongest, most caring and loyal woman Lena's ever met and she was so in love with her it was painful to think about living without her. Lena wasn't even sure how she managed to live so long without her before, but she had no keen desire to find out the answer anytime soon. Or ever, if she could readily help it.

Morgana leaned over and pressed her lips to Kara while the younger woman was in mid-sentence, not that the Kryptonian minded. She had noticed the way the brunette was staring at her for the last thirty seconds, so she wasn't too surprised. But their sweet and gentle kiss was slowly starting to become a lot more, and inappropriate for a public place despite Lena being the owner and it being near empty. Fortunately, Maggie arrived and slid into the booth across from them with a shit eating grin followed by the red haired partner Kara never got to officially meet. She just knew the woman was very agile and took out The Guardian with one move.

“ So,” Maggie started, “Wanna stop sucking face, and introduce your friend Kara?”

Red in the face Kara cleared her throat so she could speak properly, “Uh, right, um...Maggie, this is my girlfriend Lena. Lena, this is Maggie Sawyer.”

Maggie raised an eyebrow at Lena's status in Kara's life, but she wasn't disapproving, more like she was impressed, “Nice to meet you Lena with no last name...you're the one that knocked Alex down a few notches at the zoo.”

Lena scoffed into her wine glass, but nodded, “I would’ve loved to do more than that, but yes. Nice to meet you Detective.”

“ Call me Maggie, we're gonna be friends if Kara has anything to do with it. Best friends probably.”

“ I have no doubt about this, Maggie. And who is your friend?”

“ Right, this is my partner Detective Natasha Romanoff. She was the one who jumped on you during the stand-off.”

“ I didn't jump on her, Sawyer, I—wait... _ no...” _ Natasha said something in Russian when they all stopped short and stared at each other with wide eyes. Maggie swore under her breath, eyes screwed shut tightly trying to think of anything to save the situation, and Lena was already muttering a memory spell when Kara suddenly started laughing, startling everyone at the table. Now they were all looking at her as if she were crazy and finally snapped.

“ Kara, I—”

Kara held up her hand, stopping Maggie's unnecessary apology, “It's okay Maggie, I'm starting to realize that it's a good thing I'm planning on coming out as Supergirl in two weeks anyway. It seems that my entire staff already knows.”

“ Wait, what? How?”

Kara removed her glasses, and threw the handicap item on the table, “Not much of a disguise for one. I'm pretty sure one of my assistants, Maria, has figured it out by now.”

Natasha snapped out of her thoughts, and her staring at the young hero sitting across from her as she finally put all the pieces together and was mentally slapping herself for not figuring it out sooner. “Wait! My wife knows?!”

“ Your wife is Maria Hill?”

“ Yes.”

“ Why don't you two share the same last name?”

“ We do, but she uses Hill as her professional last name.”

“ Whoa whoa whoa,” Maggie jumped in before her head would explode, and Lena just refilled her wine glass quietly, “Before we start discussing how small this world is, I have one question.” once the short Detective was absolutely sure she had everyone's attention, she stared hard at Lena and Kara was starting to sweat a little while Lena held the Detective's gaze coolly, but shockingly. Maggie looked at Kara with the same look, “Because I'm sure this woman has had her fair share of shovel talks...I figured your puppy superpowers got you out of yours. Luckily, I'm somewhat immune which now leads me to my next question. What are your intentions with my new best friend?

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, any and all mistakes are my own. And we all know they're not gonna be fixed anytime soon...so...yeah.
> 
> Lol goodnight!
> 
> C_S


	25. Ring Off Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer's block is over officially for now, I had it really bad and I'm sorry for the wait! The other story updates are coming. :)

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“ Are you sure this is a good idea, Emma?”

“ Not really no, but it was  _ your  _ idea in the first place. Remember?”

“ I was only suggesting that we take our 'fun' into another dimension...I didn't think you'd...” Kara trailed off with a heavy sigh as she folded her arms across her chest, staring at the medium portal a few feet ahead of them warily.

She and Emma were having another 'girl's night', well more like a day since they met up in the National City warehouse district right after breakfast time. Now they were standing in some abandoned building that was more than likely private property. Things have been slow in National City since the infamous standoff between the Supers and the government—there had been no sightings of the DEO or their two bubbling idiots and Kara was still fairly certain she might have killed one of them that day. She felt a pang of regret for ending a life at her hands, but at that moment in time she was simply defending herself and her friends from the ignorant wrath of the DEO. She and Clark still remained in their respective cities but they were trying to reconcile, and Kara would admit that Kal-El earned a lot of brownie points for having her back when she really needed him for once.

There was still some animosity there, but Kara was working through that with her family. Her true forever family, and she finally understood the saying that blood being thicker than water. And not the silly modern meaning of it, but the true meaning. That bloodshed in war bonds soldiers more strongly than genetics. Lena, Regina and Emma haven't fought in her battles by her side, well, not all of them, but they fought the same battles in different timelines—and they understood and they were there for Kara when she needed them to be and she was given the space she needed to grow into her own.

Finally filling the shell of the woman she was always meant to become, the hero she was destined to be. She was still officially known as Supergirl, but residents in National City and from all over have now taken to calling her Superwoman now. It warmed Kara's heart. She was growing up from the image of the girl they were used to seeing wearing her cousins colors and a skirt but now she was wearing her own colors, and she carried herself differently. She was more confident, snarkier towards her enemies and she was handling the issues in National City with an iron fist and far better than she was before when she was working with the DEO.

And it not only had everything to do with the support of her loving girlfriend and their family, but her extended family at CatCo and at the NCPD. Things at CatCo had a rough start but once things were smoothed out with the combined efforts of herself and Cat, mostly her backing up Cat's praises and assurances to those who didn't agree with Kara's promotions (they ate their cruel words with termination letters afterwards). Kara proved to everyone that she while she may be young, but she was made to be Cat Grant's right hand and eventual successor.

Her identity as both a hero and CatCo's CEO was still a secret due to the delay of her new project, but Kara's team was hard working and just as dedicated to making this work just as she was. Things were falling into place in due time, and she was in no hurry to rush anything and neither was Cat.

Thinking of Cat and CatCo made her smile subconsciously while keeping one ear trained on Emma's ramblings on why jumping to another Earth to wreck havoc was a grand idea. A majority of Kara's personal staff were well aware of who they were working for and out of tremendous respect (and probably some fear—more so from Cat than Kara), they've kept their mouths shut. Kara hadn't told Cat that most of them knew, and three of them were Metahumans themselves.

The woman was under enough stress organizing the massive press conference and making sure that everything was going according to plan. And no matter how many times Kara tried, she was not allowed to help whatsoever.

But Kara was nervous, like stomach tightening into a knot nervous. Skye and Maggie informed her that the DEO has been quiet and sticking to their corner, but Kara couldn't just  _ not  _ worry. She and Alex may be estranged now, but Kara knew how persistent and  _ patient  _ her former foster sister could be. After the standoff, Kara broke her lease at her apartment and sold everything that was in it because she wouldn't put it past the DEO to put trackers on everything. And the last thing she and Lena wanted were shady Agents looming over their home. Besides, all of her important stuff was already at the Sorceress's home.

“ Hey!”

Kara blinked, flinching at the sharp snapping of the fingers in front of her face, “What?”

“ Are you okay, kid? You looked a million miles away...?”

Kara smiled at the dragon and nodded, “Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about everything that has been happening in the past month you know?”

Emma shuffled her feet and shoved her hands into her signature red leather jacket, “Yeah I know, it's been a lot but you're...you seem a hell of a lot happier. Things worked out, didn't they?”

Kara thought back to Alex and DEO, shrugging sadly but she was still smiling, “Yeah, mostly.”

“ We don't have to go, Kara, we can always go crash Regina and Lena's Spa day.”

Kara snorted and shook her head, unfolding her arms and rubbing her hands together. She took one last glance at her Ducati that was parked next to Emma's canary yellow twenty-seventeen Dodge Challenge, “You're sure they won't be destroyed in the jump right?”

“ Scouts honor!” Emma held up two fingers in mock salute, following the Kryptonian back to their parked vehicles, but she placed her hand on Kara's shoulder before the young hero could mount her bike, “I'm really proud of you kid. Seriously, I mean that.”

“ Thank you, Emma.” Kara placed her hand over Emma's and squeezed it tightly, “Tomorrow isn't gonna change anything, right? We'll still have this, just hopefully no going to jail this time. After tomorrow I can't afford to have another mugshot floating around.”

Emma laughed, “I don't know who'd die first, you or me.”

“ Me probably, Lena  _ and  _ Cat will be on my ass about it.”

“ Mama bear Cat, you mean?”

The tips of Kara's ears felt hot all of a sudden, “Whatever, are we doing this or not? Or does the big bad dragon wanna hug it out too?”

Emma growled halfheartedly, “Alright wise-ass, let's go. On three, got it?”

Kara smirked and mounted her bike after putting on her helmet. She listened as Emma's car rumbled to life and watched as the portal brightened and widened ahead of them. When Emma began to rev her engine, Kara flipped her dark visor closed and leaned forward. She and Emma began doing a burnout and by the time they both mentally counted down to three, they could hardly see each other through the white smoke. Kara ended up doing a wheelie through the portal with Emma right next to her.

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Their landing on the highway was rougher than expected and Kara would've lost balance had it not been for her powers. She narrowly avoided an oncoming semi-truck and jumped the barrier onto the right side of the highway.

“ Holy shit!” Emma yelled somewhere behind her, and Kara laughed—more from adrenaline than anything. Once they righted themselves and got away from the honking and angry drivers they disturbed, Emma took the lead at fast speeds and Kara followed her. After a while, Kara's phone buzzed in her pocket and she pressed the button on the side of her visor to accept the call.

“ What Earth are we on, Emma?”

“ _ Storybrooke, just...in a different city. We're in Boston.” _

Kara hummed thoughtfully, “What are we doing here in Boston?”

“ _ Well we're technically going to Storybrooke but I figured we could hit up a bar and get some tacos before we go, and I know the best spot in town.” _

“ Lead the way, dragon. I don't have anywhere to be until nine tonight.”

“ _ Oh? Hot date with Morgana huh?” _

“ Maybe,” Kara blushed behind her helmet, keeping close to Emma's car and remaining in the dragons line of sight, “She told me to dress comfortable and casual?”

Emma chuckled over the line,  _ “Maybe she's gonna propose, kid.” _

“ What?!” Kara shrieked, swerving out of her lane briefly and nearly taking out a soccer van, “Wait! What? Did you, did she tell you that??”

“ _ No, I just wanted to see your reaction.” _

“ That's not funny, Swan.”

“ _ Your face was priceless, kid. But on a serious note, that was one hell of a swerve. Do you not wanna get married?” _

“ Um,” Kara hesitated momentarily, worrying her bottom lip as she tried to pick her words carefully but she was unable to come up with a good answer without it coming out wrong, “I'd rather not talk about this over the phone.”

“ _ I understand kid. We have another thirty minutes til we get there, if you wanna talk just let me know.” _

“ Hey, Emma?”

“ _ Yeah?” _

_ I love you. Thank you for being the sister, best friend, asshole enabler I never knew I needed,  _ “Play some music?”

“ _ What are ya in the mood for? uh...let's see,”  _ Kara heard some shuffling around,  _ “I have Drake....Beyonce, Rihanna...Madonna, and some...Queen, and then some...Prince...?” _

“ Play it all, start with  _ Queen _ though.”

_ Is this the real life...is this just fantasy... _

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Lena and Regina sat across from each other at a recommended restaurant that Cat swore by, it was a bar and grill neither women would associate with the multi-billionaire. But they just figured that Kara had somehow dragged Cat down to this part of town and got the older woman hooked on the greasy food served here. And while Lena had no issues with greasy food, and it was her sisters guilty pleasure thanks to her wife, Emma—Regina was being insanely picky today, considering she only ordered a salad.

Lena could tell that something was up with her sister, but she knew better than to push Regina into talking about her feelings before she was ready. It would only make the former Queen shut down and become angry and defensive. Sort of like her own soulmate, and Lena had to force down her fond smile. The last thing she wanted was for Regina to assume that she was amused by her ramblings about all of the work she and Maria were doing in preparations for CatCo's anticipated press conference tomorrow. It was all over social media platforms, and Lena really just could not wait until it was all over with.

“ Lena?”

“ Yes, Regina?”

“ Can Kara keep a secret?”

Lena raised an eyebrow curiously, and set her fork aside, “Well, yes...generally speaking. I suppose it would depend on the secret she's keeping.”

Regina sighed heavily, nodding more to herself than she was to her sister. It was then that Lena was starting to notice that Regina was fidgety and as soon as she realized it, Lena noted that Regina has been like this for an entire week now. And she's wanted to slap herself for not noticing this sooner.

“ Regina? Honey, what's wrong? Is there something wrong in Storybrooke?”

“ No, everything in Storybrooke is fine. Snow White is actually...a decent Mayor when she isn't talking to those damn animals. Or singing. Or screwing the Sheriff.”

“ So, why are you so off right now? Is it because of tomorrow? You know Kara will completely understand if you want to back out—it's not too late.”

“ It's not that...Lena—Morgana, I'm...what I am about to tell you cannot reach Emma, okay? I'm waiting for the right time to tell her.”

Lena was insanely curious now, her own food was forgotten as she leaned forward, elbows on the table, “Is this why you asked if Kara could keep a secret?”

“ Yes, because I knew if I told you, you'd tell Kara. It's the way of the soulmate.”

“ Regina, what—”

“ I'm pregnant.”

Lena blinked, twice as she leaned back in her chair heavily and mouthing one word. And Regina couldn't do anything but offer her sister a watery smile. Lena reached across the table and took Regina's hand, locking their fingers and squeezing gently. She knew all too well from Regina and Emma's rant, separately how badly they both wanted (Regina) and did not ever want (Emma) children. It has been an ongoing battle between the two soulmates for centuries with Regina on the subject every time. No one said soulmates were perfect and Lena could see their reasoning from both sides. While Regina was desperate to pass on her legacy, and nurture her own maternal side—Emma had no desire to do so. Her own rough upbringing killing every motherly cell in her body—and genetically speaking, Lena saw Emma's reasoning as logical. The therapist in her could understand why Emma felt the way she did towards children, and she could also understand Regina's point of view as well. Which made this situation just as hard on her as it was about to be for them.

She didn't want either of them to feel as if she'd be picking sides—not like last time, and she and Regina went twenty years without speaking. Lena wasn't sure if she could handle that, but she also wasn't sure if she felt comfortable putting Kara in the middle of this particular mess either. She loved her sisters, but while her soulmate was thriving—Kara was still as fragile as ever.

Lena was brought from her conflicting thoughts when Regina squeezed her hand one last time before she pulled away completely, “I don't plan on saying anything until after Kara's big day. She's doing so well and...you know how Emma and I are, so I'll wait.”

“ I wasn't worried—”

Regina fixed her sister with that 'Really?' look, and Lena just smiled sheepishly down at her food, and it was Regina reaching across the table to take her hand this time, “She's family, Lena. I wouldn't do anything to hurt Kara. I was telling you about this to give you a heads up...you and Kara might have me in your guest room for a while.”

“ You really think Emma would put you out?”

“ No, I'd be putting myself out. I don't plan on getting rid of this baby, Morgana. Not this time. Despite what Emma says, or does, I am having this baby.”

Lena stared across the table momentarily, then rose from her seat and came around to pull the brunette into a tight hug and ignoring the looks in their direction, “Everything will work out this time, I promise.”

“ How can you?” Regina nearly sobbed into Lena's shoulder, holding onto her sister like she was her last lifeline, “You can't promise me something like that, Morgana.”

“ No, not by myself. But with Kara...I can.” Lena discretely signaled their waiter for the check.

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_ Elsewhere on Storybrooke Earth... _

Kara was expertly backing her Ducati into a parking spot right next to Emma's vehicle when she felt a familiar mental nudge and smiled. Even in a different universe, Lena could still reach her. But given how powerful she was, Kara shouldn't be so surprised. There were no words passed between them but Lena was sending Kara a tremendous amount of love and support. She also felt a small push of sadness that didn't belong to her which confused the young CEO.

Kara pushed the kickstand down with her foot and pulled out her phone to send a text to Lena, with a bunch of heart emojis right before Emma came walking over, and tapping the Kryptonian's helmet gently.

“ You comin' or what? This dragon is starving and we still have a whole day ahead of us.”

Kara removed her helmet and stepped off of her bike quickly, shoving her phone into her back pocket as her own stomach growled loudly. “Lead the way, you promised good food and I'm still waiting to be impressed.”

Emma scoffed loudly, eyeing Kara half seriously, “You've been hanging around Regina too much, kid. I ever tell you that?”

Kara chortled quietly, “Well we do see each other every day. She corrects almost everything I do. I came to work with a low cut shirt and she totally zipped my jacket all the way up to my chin! Regina is a total mom, you know that right?”

Emma hummed lowly, opening the door and letting Kara in first, “Yeah well, I'd rather have her mother hen you to death than an actual puppy...or something.”

Kara's keen hearing picked up on that last bit, her mouth open to ask her best friend what she meant by that but the hostess chose that moment to approach them with a cheerful smile and two menus in in her hands. Kara had a hunch that their conversation over food might require a drink or two.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of y'all might get on me about Emma and Regina's current drama, buuutttttt you know. Soulmates aren't perfect ya know. I'm not breaking them up, just being extra and getting some more backstory on Emma. Hope you enjoyed the chapter tho! Also, 2018. I'm already over it. LOL.
> 
> All mistakes are my own.
> 
> C_S


	26. Surprise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me everyone, but this Author has been going through some shit. Life. That bullshit, but I am currently trying to finish my stories cause I've burning fuel with new content but I won't/can't upload until I do the current ones justice. So, here I am.
> 
> Again, Sorry for being a slowpoke lol.

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“ So tomorrow is your big day and everything. Regina said she was helping you write your speech. How's that coming along?”

Kara smiled around her fries, swallowing before she spoke, “Not as bad as I thought it would be, Cat pitched in too but mostly for approval purposes and stuff.”

“ I thought you didn't need her approval for this sort of stuff anymore?”

“ Well, I don't. Cat trusts me,” Kara shrugged, “But this is sort of a big deal, and I wanna make sure everything is perfect.”

Emma scoffed playfully, “Spoken like a true career freak. Is that why you sort of freaked when I asked you about marriage?” Emma inquired openly, not at all sounding defensive like Kara had expected her to be and that put the young CEO at ease. It made Kara feel as if every answer wouldn't be held against her, and used as a weapon for a later date; twisted and completely out of context.

“ I didn't 'freak out', I don't think, I mean...” Kara broke a fry in half, and dipped it in mustard, “We talked about marriage and stuff before. Nothing serious, but I'm not opposed to anything just...not ready.”

Emma nodded, “What did you mean by marriage and 'stuff'? What, like kids?”

Kara shrugged, unsure how she was supposed to answer so she went for honesty, “Yeah, kids. Is that a bad thing?”

“ No! No, no. I just didn't think Morgana wanted kids, y'know? She's never really talked about it.”

“ Maybe because she never thought she'd find me, right? She tells me that she thinks about a lot of stuff that she normally wouldn't, now that we're together. Sometimes I think it's...”

“ You think it's what, kid? A load of horseshit? Yeah, I know. I used to think that too with me and Regina.”

“ I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, to wake up and all of this to be some nightmare.”

Emma raised an eyebrow, not quite following her little sisters train of thought, “You think this is all a nightmare?”

“ I would think it was if it all turned out to be a dream, and I wake up to same bullshit I escaped from. As much as I wish that I met you all when I landed on Earth, I'm glad with the way things turned out.”

“ The way fate intended for them to,” Emma smirked, “Or at least that is what Regina would say, if she were here. Hey, you wanna learn about Storybrooke's history? There are a ton of books in town at the library—I think it will give you a better understanding of how our magic works, and where we come from exactly.”

“ That would be awesome but Morgana wants us to do that together...she said that there were some things that she needed to explain that the books didn't get right, and never will, whatever that means.”

Emma nodded, fiddling with her straw, “That makes sense, considering that she was never really a good witch. Not until the last century or so, but I can still take you to Storybrooke and show you around. You done with your food, kid?...Kara? What's with the look?”

“ What do you mean? That Morgana was never really a good witch?”

Emma quickly backtracked in her head, and paled when she realized her slip up. And she could tell by the stony look in Kara's glacier blue eyes that the Kryptonian wasn't about to let that slip go anytime soon. And the dragon wasn't sure who was going to kill to her the least painfully, her wife or her sister in law.

“ Kara, I think that's something you're gonna have to talk to Morgana about. It's not my place to speak on her history, or Regina's for that matter.”

The young hero frowned, “What does here past have to do with Regina's?”

“ Um...well, they're kinda entwined you see...so really you're gonna have to talk to them both. I think.”

Kara was quiet for a long time after that and Emma was too scared to break the silence, lest she say something else she wasn't supposed to. Emma wasn't sure if she should try and move on to another topic or just apologize. Before she could figure it out, Kara pushed her plate away quietly and met Emma's gaze steadily, “I think I'm ready to go back home.”

_ Oh, no.  _ “Kara—”

“ Emma.”

The dragon exhaled heavily, but didn't try to argue any further. She simply pulled out a few bills as she hastily got out of her seat to catch up with the other blonde. She suspected that Kara used some of her superspeed because by the time Emma stepped outside, Kara had already mounted her Ducati and had all of gear on. Emma wanted to say something, anything—hell maybe text Lena to give her a heads up, but she didn't do any of those things. She simply got into her car and led them to Storybrooke. It wasn't exactly the home Kara was asking for—but the cat was out of the bag, and Emma felt that Kara now needed to know everything before talking to Morgana. She knew she was making a horrible call, but she'd want someone to do the same for her if she were in this position.

Friends don't let friends walk into a fight blind and all that sentimental crap.

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_ Back in National City, on the primary Earth... _

Alex Danvers was sitting in her new office, at the new DEO site. They were still underground of course, but instead of being further away from the city—they were closer than they ever were before. Alex had been busy weeding out the Agents that were still loyal to Hank Henshaw and or her wayward sister. She was filling in the ranks with soldiers from Amanda Waller's personal locker, as well as upping the training for Mon-El, aka Superboy and The Guardian.

She knew it would take time for the public to warm up to them, given the new and improved Supergirl that was running around and though the press was the least of Alex's concerns. She knew they would need the public's backing after the last fiasco between them and Supergirl. It certainly didn't help that the city's first responders were no longer going to work in their favor.

Alex couldn't even use Superman anymore, but she didn't... _ couldn't... _ let that deter her. She had to prove herself worthy of her new position, and her first order was wrangling in her sister before anyone else could. She knew that there was going to be competition, but she knew something they didn't. Her sister, despite the new supersuit and fighting style, was weak.

Going after Kara directly was futile. Going after those she cares about,  _ baiting her...  _ Alex smiled down at her tablet, watching  _ the  _ Cat Grant exit CatCo as if she were on a runway in Paris. She and Kara  _ were  _ going to finish their talk. Whether the Kryptonian wanted to or not.

“ _ Sir, target is in sight. Orders?” _

Alex rubbed her chin thoughtfully, “Keep your distance, Mon-El. This has to be timed just right. I'll let you know when to move in.”

“ _ Yes sir, and the child?” _

Alex almost forgot Cat Grant had children, “If he gets in the way...bring him too.  _ Gently. _ ”

“ _ Roger, Roger.” _

Alex switched radio frequencies and camera channels, “Olsen, what is your status?”

“ _ They're still inside, Director. What are our orders?” _

“ Stand by.”

Alex smirked down at the screen, staring at the woman that she only knew as 'Lena' and the other brunette she has yet to properly identify but she knew she was in cohorts with her sister. She's popped up too many times around this 'Lena' to truly be a coincidence. Alex could have Olsen and the small specialist team of DEO Agents move in the moment they walked outside but she was waiting for the moment. They haven't spotted National City's Guardian Angel today, she wanted Kara to be around to witness this. Her little sister was on a very high horse, and Alex was going to knock her off.

One way or the other, she was pulling the Danvers family back together.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also the tags...I know some of you, all of you, were seriously looking forward to THOSE bbuuuuutttttt I'm gonna make those into related one-shots and short stories. In like a series....just need a name for it. Anyway, gotta run. Peace!
> 
> But who knows I'm full of surprises. Smut might be soon as hell.  
> C_S


	27. Chapter 27

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_ Back on Storybrooke Earth... _

If Kara noticed that they weren't going back the way they came in, which she more than likely did, she didn't say anything. She just followed Emma without much complaint, but it wasn't as if the young hero had a choice in the matter. She didn't possess magic, so she couldn't very well open a portal back to her home-world. She was peeved that Emma was deliberately ignoring her desire to go home, and she had a good idea of where Emma was taking her.

Her suspicions were proved correct when the five lane highway they were on slowly dwindled down into two and thirty minutes later, as they were coming over a hill. She spotted the homey little town just below them. And Kara never realized how  _ massive  _ Storybrooke was until now.

Emma noticeably slowed down once they passed the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign. There were quite a few stares from the citizens of Storybrooke, more so at Kara and her loud two wheeled 'death trap' than Emma and her own hot set of wheels. They were used to Emma and her variety of hot wheels but Storybrooke hardly ever got visitors—especially ones that rode a superbike.

They finally arrived to the towns library. The dragon thought Kara would have a lot that she wanted to get off her chest the moment they arrived but once again, the young hero proved to be full of surprises. She just set her helmet down on the seat of her bike and looked at Emma expectantly.

“ You clearly wanted me here, so here I am, Emma. Show me whatever it is you think I should see before I force open a portal myself and leave you to clean up the mess.”

_ Okay. Someone is clearly in a mood,  _ “I just...Kara I just thought you'd like to know  _ at least  _ part of the story before you go asking Morgana questions. I'm really sorry you had to find out like this...but please trust me about this. Do your homework first, alright?”

Kara stared at her friend blankly, watching Emma squirm nervously for a few very long seconds before she surged forward and pulled the dragon into a tight embrace, which was wholeheartedly returned with a mixture of relief, love and support.

“ Thank you...for being honest with me.”

Emma pulled back slightly, still holding Kara, “You don't ever have to thank me for watching your back, kid. Lena, Regina and I have your best interests at heart—and vice versa, vice versa and vice versa y'know?”

Kara smiled sadly, stepping out of Emma's arms, “It's hard to remember that, when the people that helped raise me lied to me my entire life and the only family left I  _ did  _ have didn't want me or turned out to be...less than I remembered.”

Emma didn't know what to say to that, so she said the first appropriate thing that came to mind, “Well fuck them! You have us now, and Cat, and-and Maggie and your super evil secretary in the wheelchair—”

“ Maria.”

“ Yeah, her, and now you have your cousin! After you nearly broke his jaw, right? He's there, watching your back and staying out of your way. Don't let Alex Danvers fuck up your perspective on people, Kara.”

Kara looked down , eyes closed tightly for a moment before she opened them and inhaled and exhaled heavily. So heavily, there was a little mist coming out, “I'm trying.”

“ I swear the next time I see that Danvers chick, I will eat her. Hey, don't look at me like that! If it keeps her from fucking up everything, then I'm willing to break my diet. Now come on, you have some reading to do.”

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Not surprisingly the library was empty except for the librarian that was sitting up front reading her own book wearing a pair of thick rimmed reading glasses. Emma led Kara all the way back to the library, which was _ way  _ bigger than it originally looked on the outside.

_ Magic,  _ Emma was all the answer she provided when Kara made a comment about the libraries massive interior. The atmosphere grew colder, less warm than the front and the air was a lot more... _ still.  _ The lights flickered every now and then, but Kara wasn't afraid. There was something in the air that felt familiar—despite the dangerous tones licking at the edges from the shadows, she felt safe and warm. It reminded her of Lena, when they were at home just hanging about or when they were around each other in general.

It took Kara another thirty seconds to realize that the shift in the air was magic, Lena's magic. It was at the same time that Kara realized that Emma was no longer in front of her, leading her but now standing behind her with a soft smile and arms folded.

Kara was in the very last corner of the library and it only had a single desk and chair, and a reading chair that looked quite comfortable for long haul reading. It was like a small little cave, and very few little books on the shelves surrounding the table and chairs.

“ I can't see what you're seeing,” Emma startled Kara from her silent observations, “But whatever you're seeing, Morgana clearly planned to bring you here anyway. Take your time with your reading, I'll be in my own den somewhere.”

“ What...what if...” Kara stopped, wringing out her hands, then started again, “How did you feel when you found out about Regina's past?”

“ Scared. Angry. But really I was...understanding.” at Kara's curious and confused look, Emma continued, “Regina has done a lot of horrible things in her time, and when I found out—I found out from a third party, y'know? I didn't have the full story, and I freaked on her. I went completely ballistic and ran from her. But that was before I understood her. Before I understood Regina Mills, and not the Evil Queen. It was...it was a mess for a long while before we finally got our shit together.”

“ Oh...so this is why I'm here...and not there?”

“ Right.”

“ Oh. Thank you.”

“ I'm just looking out for my sisters,  _ all _ of you. Holler if you need me.”

And Emma was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a trail of smoke, and now Kara was all alone. She went to one of the baron shelves, and picked up the first book she saw. Not all that surprised by its thickness and lack of dust. It looked like one of those ancient spell books that were always seen in the movies, but when she opened it. The pages were in pristine condition and the spine didn't protest in a loud and eerie way. Kara settled in the reading chair and flipped to the first page.

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_ Back in National City... _

Cat Grant was scrolling through her emails on her iPad, preparing for tomorrow while Carter sat next to her playing on his handheld video game with his headphones on. She was absolutely positive tomorrow and its many surprises will be a revolution for CatCo. If CatCo wasn't big beforehand, CatCo was soon about to put every other media company out of business. She could only hope.

She was distracted from her musings by the driver clearing his throat, “Ms. Grant, I know you said not to bother you but—”

“ This better be good. And it better not end with another trip to the gas station.” she threatened non too lightly.

“ We're being followed ma'am.”

“ Excuse me, followed by whom?”

“ I-I don't know, Ms. Grant, they've been following us for the past twenty minutes. We, uh, missed your exit five minutes ago.”

Cat raised an eyebrow, tempted to call his incompetence but with everything that had been happening it was best not to risk anything, especially with Kara being out of town. Cat was  _ not  _ about to take any chances, especially with her son in the car with her. “What makes you think that we're being followed then?”

“ They put their turn signal on for the exit but didn't get off, and every time I change my lane—they follow.”

“ They? As in more than one?”

“ Yes ma'am, two black sedans. One is just up ahead, and the other is behind us. I noticed them before we got on the highway but I wasn't sure until now. What do you want me to do ma'am?”

Cat was tempted to look for herself but if they were truly being followed, it was best to let the enemy continue to believe that they were oblivious and there was no reason to alert of her son. She set her iPad aside and pulled out her cell phone, “Continue to drive. Head downtown.”

“ Yes, Ms. Grant,” he glanced at her via the rear view mirror, “Are you calling Supergirl?”

Cat's thumb hovered over the contact name, her blood icing over for a split second, “What makes you assume that I have direct contact with National City's hero?”

“ I read the papers, ma'am. I-I didn't mean to assume.”

“ Yes, well you clearly don't read CatCo papers.”

“ So, are you?”

Cat huffed loudly, glaring at the back of his head now, “Am I what, William?”  _ or is it Winston? Or Wayne? _

“ Calling Supergirl.”

Cat narrowed her gaze at the man, meeting his eyes through the mirror, “You have your instructions,  _ driver.  _ So  _ drive.”  _ Cat brought her phone to her ear when he finally shut his mouth and turned his attention back to the road, it didn't take long for the line to be picked up.

“ _ Cat, if you're looking for Kara, she's still—” _

“ It's not that, I'm being followed and I require assistance. Hello? Lena?” she pulled the phone from her ear and saw that the damned thing had died on her, which was strange because it was on the charger. Next to her, Carter took off his headphones and was now rifling around in his backpack for his own charger because his game died. Cat, suddenly more suspicious than she was before, checked her iPad and it was dead as well. She knew something was wrong.

“ Driver, change of plans. Turn around and take us back to CatCo.  _ Now.”  _ he didn't say anything, but nodded but Cat felt her stomach plummeting when he bypassed the exit and jumped onto another highway. “William? Are you deaf now? I said—”

“ Change of plans, Ms. Grant. There is someone who would like to see you. And before you get any ideas, I have about  _ sixteen  _ reasons why they're all bad.”

He was telling her that he was armed and would not hesitate to hurt either of them. The Media Mogul glared at him, and he just smirked.

“ Mom? What's going on?”

Cat reached over and pulled Carter into a tight side embrace, “Nothing we can't handle, we're just—”

“ We're just going on a little trip, buddy.” the driver— _ no,  _ the DEO Agent called back with a sharp smile that was supposed to be cheerful and friendly but it only served to send chills down Carter's spine.

“ Don't talk to him,” Cat snapped, pulling her son further into her embrace, “You'll regret this. That I promise.”

“ Your promises mean nothing if they can't find you. Now, time for plan B.” he pulled on a half face gas mask, “See you in a few hours, Ms. Grant.” he tossed back a small canister and released the sleeping gas. Fortunately across town, Lena heard Cat's call for help before the line was cut and she and Regina were opening a portal to retrieve Kara and Emma. They had no idea who had taken Cat,  _ yet,  _ but there was going to be hell to pay.

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**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be longer, this is just a set up for the incoming shit storm. plot stuff and all y'know. Also, remember there are time differences between both worlds...so it's evening in one place and brunch time in the other, in case anyone was confused. 
> 
> And Morgana is gonna have some explaining to do. Probably some groveling...hint hint. wink wink.
> 
> C_S


	28. The Power of Love Pt. 1

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**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

DEO Director Danvers stared at James Olsen blankly as he stood in front of her desk still wearing his metal hero suit but without the helmet, which was sitting on the chair he was standing behind. She heard what the man said, seeing as she forced him to tell her the events of the evening  _ twice _ but she still couldn't quite grasp the reality of it.

“ So, wait back up...what you're saying is that these two,” she pointed to the screens behind her of Regina and Lena, “Just up and disappeared after they got a phone call?”

“ Yes!” he growled, frustrated now, “They opened a portal, I think, like the one The Flash created when he brought those Metahumans from another Earth or that Vibe dude in Star City.”

“ Interesting.” Alex rocked back in her chair thoughtfully, “I may not know who they are exactly but at least we now know  _ what  _ they are. Metahumans. I can deal with Metahumans.”

“ Do you want me to go back out and track them down? Maybe bring them—”

“ No, no,” Alex rose from her desk, “We have all the bait we need now, besides...they can't tell us anymore than Cat can.”

“ What? What do you mean by that, Alex?”

“ Assuming that Cat knows that my sister is Supergirl, she has to know who these two are and what they can do, right?” Alex half laughed half scoffed, “I mean, she is the great Cat Grant. She knows everything, supposedly. Besides one of those Metahumans work for her now, and it's no coincidence either. I don't believe in those anymore.”

“ Okay,” James nodded, “That makes sense, but what are you gonna do about the public? CatCo has a big conference tomorrow—they're gonna figure out that Cat Grant is missing sooner than you want them to.”

“ I'm not a fucking media rep. I don't care, the DEO, as far as the public is concerned, has been taken down the moment Hank was fired.”

“ Yeah, but—”

“ Officially, the DEO is dead, James. We're in a new location, with a new leadership and new technology and a new mission. I'm fixing what she's destroyed and that starts with the source, Cat Grant. My...my sister will thank me for this later. ”

“ What about Cats kid? Carter?”

Alex waved him away, not missing a beat as she strolled down the hallway, “Don't worry about him, Mon-El is is taking good care of the kid. We'll take care of his father too if he becomes an issue. He shouldn't though—this won't take long.”

James wasn't sure what to make of that comment, but he wasn't about to go digging into it either, “What do you need me to do, then?”

Alex stopped outside of an interrogation room that Cat was being held in, still unconscious, “Tie up a loose end for me. Visit Detective Maggie Sawyer and give her my regards.”

James sucked in a heavy, surprised breath, “Alex. Are you sure—”

The DEO Director turned away from him, slamming the door in his face effectively giving him a solid answer and ending the conversation. He looked at the two stone faced soldiers guarding the door before putting on his helmet and leaving the base. He didn't agree a lot of the things Alex did or said, or the direction of the new DEO but James was fully aware that people like Supergirl and Superman, and The Flash and Wonder Woman needed to be checked. And people like him, and Alex, were the ones to do the job that no one else was brave enough to do.

The world may accept them as their heroes and protectors, but who was going to protect when—not if,  _ but when,  _ these aliens and Metahumans decide that humanity was not worth the effort any longer?

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Lena and Regina stepped out of the portal, finding themselves in the middle of Storybrooke in front of the towns library. Lena and Regina looked at each other questioning, both knowing that their tracking spells weren't done incorrectly—especially since both Emma's vehicle and Kara's Ducati wee sitting right in front of them.

“ It's not like them to leave their most prized death traps behind.” Regina commented, breaking their moment of silence, “Perhaps they went flying.”

“ If they went flying, Emma would've taken Kara to the mountains...not here. Kara isn't answering her phone and that's not good. Regina, try Emma again, will you?”

The door to the library opened, startling both of the Sorceresses. Emma came out of the library, seeming as equally startled as them. “What the hell are you two doing here?”

Regina's eyebrows shot up, “Excuse me?”

“ Sorry, just...did we lose track of time or something? What are you two doing here?”

“ I believe that this is my town, Ms. Swan, and I may come and go as I please.”

“ Regina, come on, you know that's not—”

Lena didn't have time for their bickering contest, “Where's Kara?”

“ Uh...” the dragon rubbed the back of her neck, a habit that often indicated her nervousness when she screwed something up, “Look, before I answer that question...promise me something first? Promise you won't kill me.”

The two sisters looked at each other, having a short silent conversation. Both of them agreeing to promise no such thing.

“ Emma, did you lose Kara?  _ Again?  _ I swear to all of the gods, this is not the time to play games!” Lena growled, eyes flashing yellow in anger.

Emma took a step back, holding out her hands palms forward, “No, no. I didn't lose her but...I might have let some things slip earlier, y'know...um,”

“ Spit it out, Emma!” Regina snapped.

“ Kara's in your personal den, Morgana.” the silence between the three magical beings was deafening. No one moved an inch, nor did they even blink. Emma could feel the angry and disbelieving emotions rolling off of them and she didn't know how to fix her mistake, so she did what any other normal person would do. Keep talking and make it worse, “Look, I didn't mean to...I know you wanted to bring her here yourself, Morgana but it slipped and the kid...ugh, y'know how she is! She's a fuckin' CEO to a mega media company! She wasn't gonna let it go!”

“ So?! You brought her here?! You should have brought her to me, Emma! She deserved to hear the truth from me, not from you!”

“  I can't believe you right now. You had no right, Emma. That was not your story to tell!”

Emma looked at her wife and then her sister in law, jaw locked tight, “Yeah well, no one told me your story Regina, did they? I had to find out all on my own. I didn't want Kara to go through the same shit I did, she deserves to know who her soulmate really is.” the dragon pointed a finger in Lena's direction, “You saw what it did to me and Regina, you should've told Kara a long time ago!”

Lena was on Emma in a heartbeat, grabbing the labels of the blondes jacket and throwing Emma back first into her own car creating an Emma sized dent on the passengers side, “News flash, Emma. Not everyone are you and Regina, do you understand me?”

“ Kara's headspace was too fragile, okay? She could not handle that information—she wouldn't have. It was not your decision to decide that for  _ our  _ relationship. I don't give a fuck about your logic...the next time you interfere with Kara and I,” Lena leaned in close, the tips of their noses touching and her furious burning yellow eyes boring into Emma's green ones, “I...” Lena stopped whatever it was that she was about to say, and closed her eyes tightly. She was quite still for a while before she opened her yellow eyes and stepped away from her sister in law, still looking angry but much calmer now, “I won't be held responsible for my actions. Are we clear?”

Emma swallowed thickly, barely managing a nod—she may be a big badass dragon, but Morgana Pendragon was a scary witch when she wanted to be, “Crystal, Morgana. And for what it's worth, I'm....I'm sorry.”

“ Your apology means nothing to me, Emma.” and the blonde didn't want to admit it, but those words, spoken so quietly and so coldly, stung something deep, “You should be apologizing to Kara.”

Morgana spared one last glance at Regina, who was still glaring at her wife hotly, as she turned to go inside of the library and leaving the dragon alone with her disappointed and pregnant (unbeknownst to her. Yet.) soulmate.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

It wasn't hard for Lena to find Kara, she  _ did  _ design the library and it was  _ her  _ den that Kara was in. The only people who could actually find Lena's private section were fellow magic users who were strong and clever enough to detect her signature—and permitted non-magic users. As of right now, Kara was the only permitted non-magic user that Lena would ever allow past all of her defenses. And this was one of them...this den was Lena's entire life, her heart, her personal hell...her  _ everything.  _ Not even Emma and Regina were allowed inside, or to even see what it looked like.

She had planned to ease Kara into her past life gently, to avoid spooking her because she knew of all the horrors Kara had been through, the lies she suffered through from the ones she loved the most. The ones she thought who loved her back just as hard. Lena didn't want to be...associated with them. But now she was afraid that due to Emma's actions...it was too late, she just hoped that Kara didn't shut her out.

It was useless to hope that Kara was finished reading, she knew how fast the Kryptonian could read. It was just a matter of Kara's reaction—the fallout to deal with. And Lena was terrified.

By the time Morgana reached her den, Kara had put everything back the way she found it. Exactly the way she found it, as if she never touched anything—as if she wasn't even there, and was just sitting in the reading chair with her legs crossed at the knee with her elbows resting on the armrests and her intertwined fingers beneath her chin. She looked so serious, so thoughtful...so...sad. Not angry, but  _ sad. _

Morgana thought she never looked more beautiful.

Kara didn't look up when the brunette entered the area, and Lena was unsure of what she should be doing so she waited. She knew from her observations with Emma and Regina that it was best to wait the silence out than to rush through it. She was well aware that there were a lot of problems on the horizon, the primary one being Cat being taken. Possibly by Alex Danvers herself. However, Lena would let Kara break this silence. And it felt like eons before she did, and Lena wondered if it was because her heart was pounding so hard against her rib-cage that her bones were threatening to break.

“ I love you.”

Morgana nearly collapsed on the floor like a bag of rocks. It was like a gallon of ice cold water being thrown on a small fire. Relief never felt so damn good. Thankfully the Sorceress kept her composure. Barely.

“ Kara, I—”

“ I know you were going to tell me. Eventually. You don't have to explain, I know.”

Morgana's jaw dropped slightly, this was  _ not  _ how she envisioned this conversation going, “I...what...how?”

“ Emma explained the magic barrier thing to me. She couldn't come in but I could...and unless it just a side effect of you using so much magic on me...you intended for me to be in here one day?”

The powerful Sorceress stepped forward but stopped, not sure how Kara would react to her touch and she didn't want to yet find out, “I did, Kara, I was going to tell you everything—I just...I wanted to do it better...better than  _ this.”  _ another step, Kara still hadn't moved or looked at her, and that was doing a number on Morgana's nerves, “With everything you've been through...I just...I didn't want to put that on your mind.”

Kara offered a smile, it was tiny and a little cold, and finally  _ moved,  _ “Yeah I guess, mentioning that your murdered millions of women and children isn't first date topic material is it? Or removing entire timelines out of existence.”

_ Ah. There it is.  _ Lena sucked in a sharp breath, finally noticing how white Kara's hands were. Now realizing how tightly they had been held together. She yearned to reach out, to stop them from trembling but she wasn't sure if she could actually subdue Kara very well if things got physical between them. So she didn't. It was her turn to remain still as stone.

“ Kara. I'm not going to stand here and tell you that I have a good explanation for these things. I was...I was in a bad place and I was looking for you, my soulmate, and—”

“ No!” Kara shot out of her seat and she was in front of Lena in a blink of an eye, the witch was _ barely  _ able to track the blondes movement and she grabbed Kara's wrists tightly when she grabbed the labels of her jacket, “Don't you  **_dare_ ** put their blood in my hands, Morgana. Don't you dare.”

“ I wasn't trying to, I'm sorry, Kara.”

Kara pulled away from her, and Lena let her. It hurt. The distance between them, but she was aware that Kara would need time to process everything. “Is that why you're here right now? Were you trying to stop me from...this?”

Lena shook her head, eyes tight but completely open, “No, no. I uh...I felt your presence in this general location but I'm not...I...that's not why I am here. Something has happened in National City.”

Kara stared at her soulmate blankly before her words finally sunk in, and Lena could see Kara Zor-El slipping away and Superwoman taking form, “What happened?”

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Alex walked into the interrogation room, slamming the door shut. It wasn't the nicest way to wake someone up, but it was the easiest and most effective. Alex pulled the metal chair from the table, purposely dragging it across the concrete floor slowly before taking a seat with a calm smile. She kept her hands folded on the table in front of her, keeping quiet as Cat gathered herself across from her. The DEO Director pulled a tiny bottle of water from one of her cargo pockets and slid it across the table.

Cat, surprisingly quick for someone who was just unconscious, caught the bottle and threw it back, hitting Alex square in the chest with it. The brunette held up her hand, commanding the two soldiers in the room to be calm and to stand down.

“ I deserved that—”

“ You deserve a hell of a lot worse than that,” Cat snarled at her, “And you will.”

Alex scoffed, but quickly checked herself and held up her hands to signal something of a surrender, “First let me apologize for the way you were brought in and—”

“ Where is my son?! Where is Carter?! I swear to God that you will not get away with this, I will expose you all. The government will not have a leg to stand on when I'm finished with you.”

Alex smiled, “You haven't even heard what I've had to say yet, it just might be in your best interest, Ms. Grant. And Carter's. And before you get cute, you were searched for any trackers. No one will be coming for either of you for a while—well, no, I take that back. They won't find you until I want them too.”

The older woman narrowed her gaze at Alex, “You really want to play this game with me, Agent Scully? Fine, we can play.” Cat rolled up the sleeves of her dress shirt. This was a game that she's played with many of her rivals, and politicians that she despised, only the environment wasn't so hostile and she wasn't fearing for her sons life.

“ Before we start, Cat...may I call you Cat?”

“ No, you may not.”

“ Fair enough, Ms. Grant—before we get started, I just want you to know that this is all for the greater good of humanity—” Alex's short speech was interrupted, commotion behind her on the other side of the door catching everyone's attention. The Director stood just as the door was forced open and slamming against the wall with a sharp bang. Flanked by two Marines, Major Lucy Lane walked into the room with a permanent frown, hazel eyes ablaze. Alex was entirely too shocked to really react properly as the Director. She thought Lucy was dead.

“ Major Lane, what the—”

“ Director Danvers, this is for you.” Lucy shoved the paper in Alex's hands and sidestepped around the taller woman, towards Cat to help the woman out of her seat, “Ms. Grant, if you will please come with us, we will get you somewhere safe. Your son, Carter, is already in our custody.”

Alex crumbled the paper and tossed it aside in frustration, “Major Lane, how did you find us? Do you know who you're about to piss off?”

Major Lane smirked, standing partially in front of the Media Queen, “Your boss is smart enough to know her place, I have her by the balls, and you as well,  _ Director. _ ” the Major spat the title as if it tasted foul, “We've been watching you for a while, Danvers. Your boss's boss, though? Sanctioned this, you're being shut down. Kidnapping Cat Grant and her son? You and your bag of tricks are going away for a long time. Now turn around, you're under arrest.”

“ Like hell I am, you don't understand—”

“ We've been watching you for a very long time, Alex, we understand everything. And you still don't understand a thing.”

“ Who is this we, you speak of Better Lane?”

Lucy glanced at Cat minutely, smiling somewhat, and Cat could see miles of hell in the woman's gaze, “The real good guys, Ms. Grant.”

“ Sir!” a DEO Agent ran in, and Cat thought she recognized the midget as one of her former employees but she truly could not be bothered to remember his name because he broke her daughter's heart, he broke  _ Kara's  _ heart. He seemed to be having a mild panic attack and tripping all over himself, and Lucy stepped back into Cat lightly, ready to protect the CEO's life if necessary, “We, we picked up something on the radar! Something huge and...and  _ her.  _ Coming in fast in our direction!”

“ What?!” Alex whirled around, glare leveled at Lucy, “You led them straight to us!”

“ No,” Lucy stated calmly, “You did. Like I said Alex, you don't understand anything at all. I thought you were different, but you're exactly like my father. Ignorant and I believe it is time for us to go, Ms. Grant. We don't want to be here when your girl gets here.”

Alex drew her gun, and Lucy was quick to draw hers, now fully standing in front of the Media Queen. The Marine's were now in a stand off with the DEO soldiers and Winn was nervously looking at all of the guns in the room, ready to go off and desperately thinking of something to say to diffuse the situation but he couldn't.

“ I will not let you tear apart my family!” Alex growled, blinking away her unshed tears, “That's  _ my  _ sister! Not yours, mine! She's supposed to talk to me, not you! My father died protecting her!” she flipped the safety off and Lucy did the same, and Cat sucked in a deep breath and raised her head high, prepared to die with her head held high and knowledge that her son was safe, “I gave up my life for her! To protect her! I killed for her and I will be damned if I let you, or any of you, take her from me!”

Cat stepped halfway around Lucy, but that was as far Lucy would allow her to go with her gun still drawn at Alex, “Is this how you plan to do it? By killing her friends? Her family?” Cat knew her words were potential triggers for Alex, but there was no other way around it. Alex was so caught up in her own web that just seeing a blonde wig could set her off at a moments notice. The woman needed help, and she's needed it for a long time. Now more than ever, but she was never coming back from this.

“ _ I  _ am her family! My family took her in, raised her, taught her,  _ saved her!” _

“ You make it seem as if she owes you something, Agent Scully.” Cat remarked coolly, meeting Alex's hard stare with one of her own, “Kara owes you nothing, not a damn thing. She doesn't owe any of us  _ anything,  _ if anything,  _ we  _ owe  _ her.  _ For having the strength, and the courage, to protect us day in and day out. To have the determination to use her powers to help instead cripple, to give faith instead of despair. If you pull that trigger, Alex, then you'll only be proving one thing.”

Alex wavered slightly, “And what would that be?”

“ That you don't love Kara, just the idea of her.”

“ I love my sister!” Alex snarled, raising her hand once more

“ Love is the most powerful emotion,” Cat shot back calmly, “And that makes it the most dangerous. Look at where you are standing now, Alex. Look at what you're doing.”

“ I hear you, Cat. I can see why the people like to listen to you, and Kara too,” Alex swallowed harshly, lowering her weapon to her side finally, eyes hard on the floor, “But she'll never forgive me for any of this...will she?” somewhere behind her, Winn let out a heavy breath of relief.

“ Kara has a big heart Alex, with time I'm sure she will.”

Alex took a small step back and Lucy, trusting her gut instinct refused to lower her weapon or let Cat from behind her, “You made me realize something, Ms. Grant, for that I have to thank you immensely. I can't save my sister, you see Amanda Waller is creating a new government and we were hoping that Kara and a few others would be great assets to protect the Earth but you just put a few things into perspective for me, Cat.”

“ Alex,” Lucy warned, the tone in her voice making Cat's blood run cold, her only thought now on her son and her daughter, and their safety despite one of them being bullet proof. She knew that Carter would be well taken care of, Kara and her newfound friends and family will see to it. “Don't.”

“ I greatly appreciate your enlightenment, and Lucy...it was great seeing you again,” she grabbed the collar of Winn's shirt and practically threw the man out of the room, “But sadly, this is goodbye. Thank you.” Alex closed the door behind her, but not before giving the kill order to her own soldiers. Not bothering to stick around to see the results of her cold labor after a dozen shots rang out in the room.

She had a base to evacuate. As she was heading to her office, Mon-El appeared by her side, “They took the boy, they had papers. Agent Banks let them go,”

Alex nodded, she wasn't upset about Carter, she had no reason for him anymore, “That's fine, we have more pressing issues. Kara is on her way here.”

Mon-El stopped short at the entrance of her office, “Where's James?”

“ Out taking care of a loose end. We're going with Plan Bravo. Waller was right...Supergirl can't help us, so we're going to take her out and go after The Flash, Wonder Woman and the others soon. I'm leaving base....stay here, and do what you've been trained to do.”

Mon-El nodded curtly, putting on his orange shades, “With pleasure.”

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**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex went full on batshit. So, I had zero intentions of taking her this far but shit, I couldn't help it. Love really is a dangerous emotion and can change a person, for better or for worse.
> 
> A lot of pow wow in this chapter, hope you enjoyed because part two is coming soon. Also thank you all for the awesome comments and kudos!
> 
> All mistakes are my own.
> 
> C_S


	29. Death and Revelations

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

Maggie yawned loudly into her hand in the passenger's seat of the unmarked vehicle she and Natasha were currently patrolling in. Both women have been awake for the past twenty four hours, and the coffee cups and food truck wrappers scattered all over the front of the vehicle and on the dashboard were a direct result of it. The entire SUV smelled like coffee and tacos but neither minded, they were long used to it by now.

The redhead glanced over at her partner, sympathizing wholeheartedly, “Coffee run?”

Maggie yawned once again, unable to stop herself, and shook her head, “If I drink anymore coffee, I might actually die. I need a few hours of sleep, at least three.”

Natasha nodded her head in agreement, “You're more than welcomed to stay in our guestroom, my place is closer to yours—unless you wanna sleep in your own bed?”

“I have my go bag in the trunk, if it's not too much of a bother though...”

Natasha snorted, “Not a bother at all. Anyway, you've heard from Kara lately? Maria said the kid hasn't been in the office in 48 hours, everything all good?”

“Yeah, everything is all good. She and Emma went to another Earth for their shenanigans today, which is probably why we can't seem to find any trouble tonight.”

Natasha paused for a moment, “Another Earth? They can do that?”

Maggie grinned, despite she having that very same reaction, “yeah apparently, but I would rather have them causing trouble on another planet, than this one. Makes me grow less gray hair.”

Natasha quietly agreed as she maneuvered the vehicle onto the freeway while Maggie informed the station that they were clocking out for a few hours. Aside from the music playing on the radio, and the occasional chatter on the CB radio. Maggie was scrolling through her phone, checking her emails and messages as Natasha drove them to her home that was just on the outskirts of town. Maggie noticed that the area around them was noticeably quieter and a little darker, and the highway had fewer cars. She was just about to ask her partner why the hell she and her wife lived so far out when she noticed something in the side mirror.

Maggie set her phone down and looked closer into the mirror but there was nothing there now. And she wasn't sure if there ever was, she must have been more exhausted than she thought. She was just about to pick up her phone again, but something reflected from the dim street lamps above them.

“What the fuck?”

Natasha looked over, blinking slowly, “You alright over there?”

Maggie quickly turned off the radio and CB radio, and immediately they both heard the soft rumble of a bike somewhere behind them. Natasha righted herself in her seat, eyes on the rear view mirror and both hands on the wheel but neither of them were seeing anything but they could hear whatever it was getting closer and closer.

Maggie saw the gleam again, this time it was closer and Natasha swore under her breath as she saw the same thing. “Camouflage.”

Maggie pulled out her service weapon, “What?! What the hell kind of camouflage is that?”

“The government kind,” Natasha growled, “Oh shit, hang tight.”

Maggie opened her mouth to ask what the hell Natasha was about to do, but all she could do was yell out as their vehicle was hit hard from behind and they were overturned in a snap. She saw darkness immediately but as Maggie was fading she could heard the sounds of glass shattering and metal crashing and scraping across the concrete.

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_Back at the DEO..._

There were Agents running around all of the base as they tried to clean their hard drives and evacuate as quickly as they could, half of them were already gone including their fearless Director, leaving behind the grunts to clean up the mess that was surely going to get them all killed or thrown in a dark prison. It wasn't much of a difference but none of them wanted to really find out.

Currently one of the DEO's strongholds were going toe to toe with a female Green Lantern who had earlier came in dressed as a military general but now she was dressed in a skin tight green and black bodysuit with the GL insignia across her chest. Those two were tearing up the base and everyone was simply trying to still do their jobs and avoid being a causality in a super fight.

Back in the interrogation room that was completely destroyed with bullet holes littering along the walls and bodies and blood covering the floor—Media Queen Cat Grant was huddled in the corner, uncharacteristically hugging her knees to her chest with her hair in complete disarray and she looked shook. There were rare moments that Cat Grant looked completely and utterly shaken and human, but thankfully no one was paying much attention to the woman in the shot up room with the door hanging off the top hinge in the most cliché way.

The older woman's mind was reeling from seeing her life flash before eyes in forms of dozens of fast moving projectiles and she had made peace with her demons in that very moment. The flash of bright, nearly neon green had her stumbling backwards into the corner as Lucy Lane truly became the better lane, living up to the nickname—and explaining her absence for so long. Cat watched with wide eyes as Lucy, created a shield to protect and the bullets ricochet back to their shooters. Things were moving too fast for Cat to truly, and properly comprehend. Their was too much noise, too many colors, and the floor was continuously shaking beneath her. She couldn't focus, her only thoughts were Carter's safety and that she was somehow still breathing.

She gasped sharply, startling almost painfully as a loud roar reached her ears, nearly shaking her insides, and more gunfire and screaming. The roar was so loud, it made her ears ring but she knew everything was okay when familiar red boots came into her line of vision. Supergirl. No, _Superwoman_ was here. Her girl was here. Everything was going to be fine.

Despite herself, Cat smiled and flung herself into Kara the moment she crouched down but the Kryptonian caught her mentor, her mother in all sense of the word, easily and stood quickly.

“You're going to see Carter, okay? Cat?” Kara asked quietly, calmly, even over the sounds of war happening around them.

“C-Carter, yes, my son...but you—?”

Kara hated how small her mentor sounded, how frail she felt in her arms and she swore Alex had gone too damn far now, further than Kara would've thought, “Yes, Cat, you're going with Emma. She's gonna take you to him, Regina found him.”

“Alex...she—”

“Don't worry about any of that right now, Cat. I'll be seeing you soon, okay?” gently, Kara passed off Cat to Emma who was, thankfully, dressed and waiting, no more bullets flying at her now. All the assailants dead, and they were careful not to let Cat see any of the damage or the blood. A silent conversation passed between the two friends slash sisters before a portal opened behind Emma, and she turned and disappeared. Kara waited until the portal closed before turning on her heel and spotting her next target.

He was going fist to fist with the new Green Lantern that's she has heard about that had been going up and down the east coast, but has never had the chance to meet. Apparently, though, there was no need since she and Lucy were friends. Or well, they used to be. Kara was hurt that the former lawyer, or was it current, didn't bother to seek her out.

However, that was a hurt that she would have to shelve for another time. She and one half of the DEO's idiot circus had some unfinished business. Fist balled tightly, Kara waited until the two super beings parted for a breather. With a burst of superspeed, Kara flew over Lucy, missing the other superhero by an inch. But Mon-El never saw her coming, and he found himself with a mouth full of cement and a missing bottom tooth.

Kara smirked, and shook out her hand as she turned to Lucy—the new Green Lantern, “I got this, thanks for saving Cat but this is my fight.”

Lucy nodded, but she didn't budge, “You might need some backup, Supergirl.”

Kara, still feeling some distant anger from earlier and the new feeling she was experience now, which could be associated with hate, scoffed, “It's Superwoman now, and thanks but no thanks. I came this far without your backup and I can go further. This is my city, Lantern. Leave.”

Lucy worried her bottom lip, holding back her own retort because she deserved the cold shoulder her friend was giving her. Lucy just nodded, vowing to seek Kara out at a later time because now was not the time to address old wounds. It was quite clear that, _Superwoman_ , earned her new moniker. She came in with a whole dragon, and that's not something any superhero could say that they have done or could even do.

Lucy took her leave gracefully. Mon-El pushed himself back onto his feet, wiping away the blood dribbling from his bottom lip, “I was wondering when the all mighty _Supergirl_ would show up. And all we had to do was kidnap that nosy old bitch just for you to show up.”

Kara's gaze narrowed as her normally icy blue eyes were taking a dangerously red hue, but she held her anger in check if not only for the sake of not proving her sister— _Alex—_ right. But Kara's had a very trying day, and she wasn't exactly too sure how long she could hold her anger in check. A sort of anger she's yet to fully extinguish from existence. She watched him take off his now broken glasses and toss them aside with a cocky half smile. She had no idea how he was smiling, and why, when she nearly broke his jaw.

Kara was thinking that maybe she should have. Idly she wondered where his partner was but she figured like Alex, they were too scared to talk shit to her face. Mon-El was only brave because of his super strength, but it took more than strength to fight a Super.

“What? You don't have anything to say, Girl of Steel? You seem to have plenty to say when you're on TV with your little group of friends.”

“You're really going to do this now?”

“You know,” he spat out more blood, “They call me Superboy now, maybe one day, after I knock you off—I'll finish your cousin, and then _I'll_ be Superman.”

Kara scoffed, rolling her eyes with one hand on her hip, “As if.”

Mon-El cracked his neck and got into his fighting stance, “You think because you changed your name and looks that you're better now? You're nothing but a Kryptonian playing dress up!”

“More like beat 'em up.”

Kara moved into action then, too fast for Mon-El to track her. For all of Mon-El's overconfidence and training, Kara broke through his defenses like a hot knife cutting through butter. Kara recognized his tight and precise fighting style as Alex's. Momentarily, Kara was brought back into her old training days when she first started off as a hero. Barely getting her feet wet and relying on nothing but her strength and speed. She could hear Alex instructing her to plant her feet, just the same as Mon-El's were, to tuck and punch and to press her advantage to be aggressive. To overwhelm her enemy.

And while that technique was good, and usually worked. There was a reason why Mon-El never landed a single punch. And why Kara was able to sidestep his right hook combo, and glide into his personal space and break two of his lower left ribs with her palm alone.

Natasha and Maggie would be proud of their star (and only) pupil. Mon-El cried out in pain, taking half a step back as he dared to try and high kick the Girl of Steel. Kara saw it coming however, and caught his leg, her hand wrapped painfully tight beneath his knee. One reflex away from shattering fragile bones.

Mon-El countered quickly by using her strength as a leverage and jumped, using his other leg to complete his first failed attempt at a high kick. Kara was caught off guard and released him. Mon-El could practically feel the results of her hold on his knee. But he pushed through his pain, determined not to let Alex and the DEO down, and to prove himself even more. The Daxamite rushed the Kryptonian, but Kara had recovered faster than he would have liked and met him head on. She pushed him back but Mon-El came back harder than he thought he was even capable of doing. And their clash was so loud, and powerful, it was like a physical thunderclap that rang alone the concrete walls of the base.

Mon-El was grinding his teeth, pushing as hard as he could but Kara was an immovable object that not even Superman could move without breaking a sweat.

“Last chance to fall in line! You can't win this! _I won't let you.”_

Kara smirked, “Famous last words.”

The Kryptonian goddess in white easily broke their lockup and before Mon-El could blink, Kara froze him over for the second time but this time she said a silent prayer to Rao before spinning on the tips of her toes and kicking the mans chest in. This time...she didn't leave anything behind for anyone to recover this time.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_Just outside of the city..._

Maggie hissed sharply, eyes blinking open as she slowly came back into awareness. Her senses were on overload as everything came rushing back to her in an instant. Even though her brain was up to speed, it was taking her body too long to come out of it's shock to kick into defensive mode of the threat that was nearby. The same threat that created this accident, but also the threat of the fire that she could smell burning nearby. She could hear the flames cackling mockingly, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Mankind's most unpredictable weapon.

Maggie shifted slightly, finally able to withstand that had dripped down onto her face from some unknown injury on her person. She wouldn't be able to properly identify any injuries until the adrenaline wore off—if she survived this encounter at all. She was careful to turn her head, to check on her partner and saw that Natasha was slumped in the corner, semi trapped between the steering wheel and the dashboard. It seemed as if her seat-belt had snapped at some point during their crash but Maggie was immensely relieved to at least see the redheads chest moving up and down.

Maggie continued looking around but her vantage point didn't offer much of a view to spot her enemy to see if he was even still around. There was too much debris and chaos happening around them, and she knew she had to get herself and Natasha out of there before the situation became worse. For all she knew, it could've been a hit and run attempt and they were left for dead.

For now, she hoped it was that simple but deep down in her gut she knew that would not be the case. With trembling hands that were sticky with her blood and other fluids she wasn't entirely too sure of, she undid her seat-belt and fell neck first onto the hard roof of the SUV. She cried out loudly, becoming more aware of the piece of glass embedded in her thigh, that was consequently pushed in further when she fell. She had enough common sense to keep it there.

Maggie scooted forward until she was halfway out of the drivers side window, trying in vain to avoid the glass that was trying its damnedest to dig into her exposed skin. She used the side of the overturned SUV to stand on her own two feet, but everything felt so damn weird. As if her body didn't belong to her, and everything was a blur. She could see the true damage of their wreckage and she knew that it was a miracle that she and Natasha survived. (barely).

“I was hoping you were dead.”

Maggie's head snapped to the left, she regretted the motion immediately as her vision swam and her temples throbbed painfully. She squinted into the darkness, until she was finally able to make out their assailants figure. His very shiny figure, the type the light of the fires around them reflected on. And her suspicions were confirmed when he pushed off of his bike and stepped forward.

Maggie spat out a glob of blood, “Alex sent you, didn't she?”

The Guardian shifted, shrugging lightly, “Alex just wants to make sure that we do our part in keeping this planet safe from people like you, The Flash, Green Arrow, The Legends...Superman and Superwoman. The Batman!” he spat as if he tasted something horrible and disgusting.

Maggie scoffed at him, ignoring how such a simple gesture cause her pain, “They're the heroes.”

“Are they? Why? Because of their money? Their superpowers? You people call them heroes, praise them,” he stepped closer, “But you idiots forget that they can easily become Earth's greatest threats.”

“So, what does that make you? A hero? I don't think so. You and the DEO are trying to take out the few elements on this planet that actually fight _for_ us. That actually give a fuck about humanity. And for what? For nothing. You're all hypocrites. You think trying to kill two NCPD officers makes you a hero? Think again asshole. Your logic is fucked. Just like Alex and the DEO.”

The Guardian was on Maggie now, one hand wrapped around her throat tightly but not enough to cut off her airflow. Yet. “Don't talk about things you don't understand, cop! If they were really heroes, and all for humanity then why won't they talk to us? Bulletproof skin! Time travel, endless unsanctioned technology and resources. They should work with us, _for us_ , but they work against the government and _that_ makes them public enemy number one.”

“The government cannot be trusted with that much power!” Maggie choked, trying in vain to get his hand from around her throat.

The Guardian snarled in her face from behind his mask, “You work for the government, remember?”

“I work for the people, asshole, and the people need them...not you!”

His grip tightened around her throat, and Maggie knew that if she survived this encounter then she'd be severely bruised for the foreseeable future, “Would you be willing to die for them, then?”

“They do it for us everyday.”

“You're pathetic.”

Maggie saw slightly movement behind him, over his left shoulder but she knew better than to alert him lest she give away her partners surprise attack. They've been partners long enough for Maggie to stop questioning how the redhead is able to do what she is able to do, its not everyday that she displays her badassery but it was times like these it was greatly appreciated. The NCPD Detective didn't care to know _how_ Natasha got out of the wreckage without either of them noticing, and how she managed to get behind this so called 'government hero'. She didn't care about the how's and why's, she just didn't want to die on this lonely road in the middle of nowhere.

“And you're dead.”

Natasha struck. The Guardian felt the atmosphere shift at the last possible second and tossed Maggie aside like a rag doll, but it was too late. Natasha had her knees locked around his neck and she extended her garrote device and tried to wrap it around his vulnerable neck that was only protected by cloth. But the wannabe hero was faster, and Natasha knew that her wire was not strong enough to cut through his metal covered forearm.

She was low on energy and knew she didn't have much in her tank for a full fledged fight, especially with her partner out of commission. Natasha reached down as she locked her thighs tighter, and hooked her fingers beneath the chin of his mask and pulled. Ultimately she had to yank it off as hard as she could, forcing him to tumble and from her place on the ground Maggie gasped painfully as The Guardian's identity was revealed.

James growled, reaching back and tossed the Detective off of his back. Natasha fell into a roll to prevent further injury on the concrete road. Acting quickly, Natasha pulled something out of her cargo pocket and threw it at him. The items activated the moment they made contact with his suit. Maggie couldn't see what they were but she saw what they did. James was being electrocuted inside of his own suit, and his gadgets were going haywire and brought him down to his knees.

Natasha was on her feet once again, and half ran half limped to her fallen partner and hauled the fading woman to her feet. Natasha practically dragged Maggie past the howling James Olsen and mounted his bike. It was going to be a long ride, but those EMP's wouldn't last for long but long enough for them to escape.

James finally ripped off the EMP magnets from his armored chest and tossed the damned things aside as she tried to stand but he was feeling weaker than usual and his suit was entirely too heavy for him to carry on his own so he allowed himself to roll over into a heap. He stared up at the stars, barely managing to activate the comm in his ear, his arm flapping back down on the ground with a nasty clank.

“ _Olsen,”_ Alex answered immediately, _“Is it done?”_

“Negative, Director. Her partner interfered before I could. I failed, Alex. And...and they know who I am now.”

Alex was silent for a while, and it was starting to make James nervous, _“Come to the airfield, we're leaving National City and make sure you're not followed.”_

“Roger that, Director but um...I need a ride. Think you can send Mon-El my way?”

“ _Mon-El is dead. You have precisely forty-five minutes to get here, and I don't care how, before you become a liability that needs to be handled.”_

James groaned loudly when Alex disconnected their link and he began to dismantle his armor. He wasn't particularly sad to hear about Mon-El's unsurprising death and he wondered who his next partner would be. Wondering if he could talk Winn into building him a damn jetpack.

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm gonna leave it up to you guys, and I do listen.
> 
> Kara is obviously about to take CatCo in a new direction in these upcoming chapters, and I've been toying with her identity. Guess what I'm asking, from writer to reader, is...should she come out and lay it all out there or keep it close to the chest? I look forward to hearing everyone's opinion on the matter. 
> 
> All mistakes are my own. :)
> 
> Also thank you all for your endless patience, and encouragement, awesome comments and kudos! Also, a big huge ass shout out to **MeiWan** who I call Z-Bait for helping me through my writers block. she put up with my endless babble, and here we go. A chapter, and I've found inspiration for my others as well.
> 
> Anyways, see you all soon. Thanks! \o/


	30. We're Doing This

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

_ Four hours. _

Everyone at CatCo had four hours before the big press conference, and Kara was not ready. Physically, yes she was, but mentally? Kara was all over the place. She had too much on her mind, too much for the Kryptonian to properly handle and that was something she didn't think she would ever admit or even experience. Kara was sitting in her office at CatCo dressed for the occasion behind her desk. The tight white dress that CatCo fashion department heads practically forced her into, topped off with those red bottom shoes that cost more than the average rent.

Kara didn't even look like herself, but she allowed it to happen—to allow dozens of people flock around her like pigeons finding a fresh loaf of bread. It was a welcomed distraction from the turmoil in her personal life, her superhero life and now her work life.

_ Four hours. _

She had to think of the conclusion of her speech, and she dared not ask Cat anything. The woman had enough on her plate as is. Pretending that she and her son weren't kidnapped by the DEO, and narrowly escaped death. That she didn't see a dragon tear down a majority of the DEO's base. To pretend that she wasn't going to have to put Carter in even more therapy to cope with his PTSD. Cat had to put on a face, just like Kara, and pretend that the CatCo World Wide formal press conference was the most important moment on her mind. On Kara's mind.

When in fact, for the heroine, it wasn't. Finding Alex, and The Guardian and the remaining DEO cell was taking priority on her list of important things. Finishing her conclusion of her big speech, trying to balance the pros and cons of exposing herself to the world. She had more than just herself to think about. Of course, her family could take care of themselves—and take care of Cat and Carter as well. But what about Clark? And his family? If she put a mega light on herself as Supergirl, she could never associate with Clark ever again. At least not while he was a civilian.

Kara rocked back in her chair, turning it sideways as she crossed her knee over the over while rubbing her lower lip gently with her pointer finger. The familiar crinkle ever present.

Then there was her girlfriend. Figuring out where to take her relationship with Morgana...after everything she's learned. She's read through Morgana's entire library, read through her very descriptive stories that told of her adventures, her...many falls from grace. Destroying timelines—centuries worth of life. Kara was in love with a woman who was capable of destroying an entire planet, no...capable of destroying history. It was hard for Kara to wrap her mind around it.

She wasn't even sure if it was possible to be able to do so. She knew she should be afraid of Morgana, wary maybe, but she wasn't. She wouldn't judge Morgana for her past, because what sort of person would that make Kara? Her fucking sister. But Kara knew they'd have to talk about it, at length, but right now—Kara just really missed Lena.

The Kryptonian glanced out into the bullpen of her floor and immediately looked away before Maria's sharp darker blue eyes could meet her lighter ones. Maggie was in the fucking hospital and Natasha was sporting bruises all over her body and a broken arm that would be in a sling for weeks thanks to The Guardian. Kara was feeling guilt she knew that she shouldn't but it came with the territory of being a hero and putting her friends in danger. It was another con she could add to her list.

However, Kara was forever thankful that Maggie and Natasha made it through their night alive.  _ This time, what about next time? _

_ Knock, knock.  _ “Kara?”

She didn't bother looking up at her visitor, and Maria didn't bother waiting for an answer. She wheeled herself in and made sure that the door was closed before she ventured further into the room until she was facing directly in front of her young boss, forcing Kara to look at her now.

“ Kara.”

“ Maria, I'm busy. I asked for no distractions unless it was Cat,” and they both knew that if Cat needed Kara, the girl would've been out of her office already. The older woman wouldn't have bothered with a phone call, with Kara's keen ears and all.

Maria shook her head, moving closer until the her legs were touching against Kara's, “You're not focused right now, Kara.”

Kara scoffed at her assistant, “How can I be, Maria? I...,” the superhero shook her hand, waving her hand this way and that just like Cat would do, “I can't rest knowing that my...that Alex is out there still, plotting against me. Trying to isolate me, draw me out...whatever; she can to fuck me over.”

Maria stared at Kara for a bit longer, the young hero reminded her so much of the heroes she knew in her past and so much more. And while Kara would be the epitome of a perfect superhero, she was anything but. She was just held to a higher standard than most of the others because her cousin was the Man of Steel, yet that all changed when Kara proved to be more than Superman's shadow. Maria knew superhero's like Kara once...they tended to fall into the rabbit hole, make themselves the enemy... _ die. _ The ex-secret government Agent refused to see Kara go down that path, despite her healthy support group.

“ People look up to you, Superwoman.”

“ It comes with the territory of saving people, doesn't it?”

It was a rhetorical, almost sarcastic, but Maria ignored the tone, “Not just the citizens, Kara, but other superheroes as well. Even your own cousin. You've been through so much hell, and yet, look at where you are now. No one looks at you and thinks of Superman anymore, no don't give me that look—when was the last time someone asked you about your cousin while you were wearing the suit?”

Kara realized that is  _ had  _ been a while since anyone asked about Kal-El in her presence. Too focused on getting a piece from her that didn't have CatCo stamped all over it. When Kara looked into Maria's eyes, they both knew that the brunette hit the nail on the head with that one.

“ After your showdown with the DEO, Kara, other superheroes have been popping up from all over. Skye has been keeping track off the books, of course, but Kara? That was all you. You gave others the courage to embrace who they are, you've inspired them to not be afraid of those who wish to harm them even if that includes the government. You have carved a path for not only yourself, Superwoman, but for many others to come.”

“ Superman—”

“ Casts a shadow, you make a path.”

Kara smiled softy at Maria, blinking away her tears. She was sure her makeup could withstand it but she'd rather not deal with it, that and she knew that if she started now there would be no stopping the dam from breaking.

“ I don't know what I'm doing, Maria. I don't even know if I can do this anymore...”

“ Only more reason that you're exactly where you need to be, Kara. I once knew this man, who wore a metal suit. He revealed his identity to the world the first chance he got. It might have been for egotistical reasons, but his logic was sound. He was billionaire, owned the biggest tech company. Even if he hadn't revealed himself, he would still be a target because the armor was still his technology. He'd have enemies either way...and with that kind of target on his back, along with press, just how long would he be able to hide?”

Kara understood where Maria was going with this, though she did have a few questions of her own to ask the brunette later, “I guess with me, it's the same thing. Superwoman is tied to CatCo now, and we'll always be targets by association. I know...it's...it's happened with Cat in the past.”

“ Exactly, and this isn't a tech company, Kara. This is a full blown media company, just how long can you keep the charade now that you're about to be CatCo's next face?”

“ What about Superman? I can't just...I can't be that selfish, Maria, my family is okay with it, but—”

“ If you're willing to sacrifice all contact with his alter ego, no connections will ever be made. As a former spy, Kara, this is what I do in my sleep. The decision is yours, kid.”

Kara stared at her assistant as she wheeled out of her room after dropping that bomb on her boss,  _ a spy?  _ I hired a spy as my...well,  _ I hired Regina and she's a witch married to a dragon... _ the door closing soundly in Maria's exit brought Kara's focus. The woman brought forth new thoughts for Kara to stew over, she shone a light over things that Kara overlooked while giving a little insight of her own backstory. The Kryptonian glanced at her pure gold watch,  _ three hours and twenty six minutes... _

“ I have time,” Kara rose from her chair and as carefully as she could, she didn't even bother to change into her super suit and walked out to the balcony.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Lena looked up the moment she felt Kara's familiar signature pass through her magical barriers. The Sorceress checked the time on her phone curiously as she rose from behind her desk and met her girlfriend out in the living room.

Lena stopped in the hallway entrance just as Kara came through the double doors. Lena, for the first time, didn't know what to say to Kara so she said nothing. She let her body language speak for her as she noticed that Kara was looking at her inquisitively—she just hoped that Kara found whatever it was that she was looking for. Neither were sure how many minutes passed between them, and Lena expected a lot of things to come out of Kara's mouth—especially given the stress she's been dealing with as of late. However, she should have known better.

“ You're not dressed.”

Lena stared back at Kara, looking down at her pajamas briefly, “I—I didn't think you'd want to see me so soon, especially on your big day, Kara. I...I know how much this means to you and—”

“ And none of it will mean anything if the woman I love, the woman who helped me even get to this point is not even there to celebrate with me.”

“ I was trying to give you space, Kara.”

Kara just nodded, unsure what to say—if there was anything to say at all. They both knew that they had a lot of talking to do, crying and confessions from them both. It was a matter of when, given all of the dysfunction that surrounded them it was hard to focus on one thing but the fact that Kara was wanting to willingly be in the same with her still. Gave Morgana more hope that Emma hadn't derailed their entire relationship before it could even start. It proved to her, not that she didn't already sense it, that her and Kara's bond was far stronger than anyone expected.

Morgana's past was gruesome, devastatingly so, with her own two hands. Kara was too pure for Morgana yet the universe allowed this cloud of blood and darkness a splotch of light, and the Sorceress was determined to keep her light shining bright. Suddenly, Kara was standing in front of Lena slightly startling the older woman.

“ Space I didn't even ask for?”

Lena swallowed thickly, placing two slightly trembling hands on Kara's waist lightly as if to test that she was actually allowed to touch the blonde and when Kara continued too look at her with such openness and love, Lena's grip became firmer. She could see the love in Kara's brilliant blue eyes and she could feel it through their bond, but it didn't stop her from feeling insecure. Anyone on the outside looking in would never figure Lena to be the insecure one, even Kara would've never thought it. But after reading Morgana's journals, she kicked herself several times for even thinking so selfishly.

“ Not long ago, you said...that you loved me. Do you remember?”

Kara smiled, wrapping her arms around Lena's neck, “I would never forget something like that, Lena, of course I remember. And yes I meant it.”

“ A long time ago, and oh so far away...I fell in love with you before you even knew I existed.” Lena shook her head, locks of black hair falling in front of her face but neither broke eye contact, or could be bothered to move it. “I don't understand how someone so pure can love someone like me, baby...I love you, I really do.”

“ Morgana?” Kara whispered with a small smile, a private smile that was only reserved for the woman she loved and it made Lena practically melt.

“ Yeah, baby?”

“ Take me to bed. Please?”

Neither knew who made the first move in seconds, or minutes. They could no longer resist each other. One of Lena's hands traveled up Kara's strong back while Kara slowly began to caress the sides of her neck as they kissed lovingly, as if they haven't seen the other in ages. Kara's lips part, allowing Lena to slowly slide her tongue in her mouth. Kara met her girlfriend halfway as their kiss deepened, finding herself being pulled tighter against the taller woman's body and Kara was reminded of Lena's strength in that one instance. She felt a familiar ache between her legs, and she whimpered into their kiss.

With one hand, Lena began to pull up Kara's tight dress until it was bunched up on her upper thighs. The young CEO knew exactly what her girlfriend wanted, and when she felt Lena's hands on the back of her bare thighs—she jumped and wrapped her legs around Lena's waist, and kicked off her heels right before they were transported into their Master bedroom.

Kara found her bare back pressed against against their cool black silk sheets, momentarily realizing that with magic, Lena stripped her of everything but her thong. The Sorceress stood at the end of their bed, staring down at her soulmate with light yellow tinted eyes but rather than being afraid of Lena's lack of control (quite the contrary) Kara was more turned on.

Crawling on the bed, and between her soulmates parting legs, Lena was naked as the day she was born. Kara wrapped her legs around Lena's, leaving herself completely open to the Sorceress as she let all of her weight fall onto the hero beneath her. Lena traced Kara's soft skin until she was firmly palming both of Kara's breasts, feeling her hard nipples against the palm of her hands and squeezing them between her fingers.

Kara pressed back against the pillows, a moan escaping her but Lena felt it more than she actually heard it as she kissed along Kara's smooth neck. Lena slid down her lovers squirming flushed body until she felt Kara's thong covered slick pussy pressed against her stomach, and oh  _ god,  _ how she wanted to be inside Kara. Ripping her piece by piece, to hear her scream for her...but Lena was determined to cherish their first time, even if it was against the clock.

She kissed her way down Kara's hot flesh, along her collarbone until she  _ finally  _ seized one hard nipple between her lips and lashed at it with her tongue. Kara cried out, thighs squeezing around her ribs as one hand came up and cupped the back of her neck. Kara's hips jerked forward and both women moaned at the sensation. Lena teased both of Kara's nipples with her lips and tongue, enjoying the way Kara was grinding her pussy into her, and moaning.

Oh so slowly, Lena began to trail kissed and nibbled further down Kara's beautiful body until she was able to push the blondes legs further apart when she was at eye level with Kara's sex. Even covered, Kara was vulnerable to the predator between her legs. Her panties were useless, and Lena proved as much when she tore them off and tossed them aside as if it were paper.

“ _ Lena, ohhhh... _ ”

Lena went directly for Kara's clit, she couldn't help herself. She wanted to be gentle, she did, but Kara's aroma drove her wild. She dove right into her soulmate, and Kara threw her head back and moaned as she bucked against Lena's mouth, both of her hands tangled in Lena's dark locks.

Managing to snake one hand in and pushed two fingers into Kara's hot sex, refusing to let up on her clit and Kara's nails dug painfully into her scalp but Lena was determined to make her lose control. Kara whimpered and growled as she felt herself tighten around Lena's twisting and curling fingers that were buried deep inside of her soaked pussy.

“ Oh Rao Lena....I'm gonna— _ Lenalenalenalena—! _ ” Kara gasped sharply, back arching eyes squeezed shut but Lena held on firmly,  _ “Oh _ , fuck—Morgana, yes, oh Rao yes!” Kara screamed high to the heavens as her back practically snapped in half as she came hard, and Lena continued to fuck her lover through her orgasm and through the second one until Kara plopped back down against the bed, panting heavily with strands of hair sticking to her sweat soaked forehead.

Lena gave Kara's clit one last kiss, smirking when the limp body beneath her twitched. Kara was breathlessly and her body felt like jelly and Lena was entirely too smug for her liking as the Sorceress leaned over her and kissed her, letting her taste herself. Kara liked the way they tasted together.

“ You okay, baby?”

Kara nodded, still trying to catch her breath, “I...yeah, that's been building up for a while.”

Lena kissed her again, and again, “Mm, I know. I've waited so long to drag it out of you too.” and she kissed her again.

Kara shuddered and finally opened her eyes, meeting Lena's yellow tinted ones lovingly. She finally found the strength to wrap her arms and legs loosely around her lovers body, and hold her close, “Your turn—”

Lena glanced at the bedroom clock and smirked, “Actually...” using her lower body, Lena pushed one of Kara's legs off of her and further out until she was able to line their sexes up, “I've been waiting a long time to get you on your back...just like this,” Lena growled, enunciating each word with a subtle thrust and Kara, despite feeling sensitive, moaned and raised her hips to meet Lena's as she pulled her down into another deeply passionate kiss. Heart to heart, breast to breast, connected in ways they've both longed for, for a very long time. Kara and Morgana lost themselves within each other.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

Cat Grant was agitated, beyond pissed off but most of all she was worried. The press conference was starting in the next ten minutes and the main reason for all of this trouble was nowhere to be found. Neither Kara or Lena were answering their phone, and Regina couldn't even reach her sister via magic. But she could feel that they were safe, and that quelled everyone's fear that the DEO didn't strike back so quickly right under their noses.

The roar of reporters from all types of press companies from all over were deafening and it was difficult for Cat to think with so much on her mind already. She shoved a few more M&Ms in her mouth, wishing it was something stronger but she could wait until after.

Regina watched the woman pace the backstage area in front of the snack table, scaring off all of the IT techs and crew that helped make this event completely flawlessly. Everyone who was anyone was out there along with the reporters, this was huge and goddamnit!

“ Where is she!” Cat growled under her breath. Regina and Maria looked at each other, neither really knowing what to say to the Media Queen.

“ Ms. Grant, you've passed your five minute mark.”

Cat waved away the poor man and he went about his way as quickly as he could without actually running.

“ Sorry we're late,” all three women turned around just as Lena's dark purple, nearly black, cloud of smoke cleared away since they teleported there. And Cat practically sagged with relief but caught herself in time, but before she could snap at her protege for stressing her out—she took in Kara's new outfit, “Kara wanted to make some last minute wardrobe changes.”

The young CEO slash superhero was wearing the white dress she had on earlier but it was a little whiter—like her supersuit, and the bracelets on her upper arms were gold, the same matching color as the lining on Superwoman's suit and her hair was no longer pinned on top of her head, but cascading down her shoulders and she was no longer wearing her glasses. She looked gorgeous, but if anyone looked hard enough—they would see what Cat, Maria and Regina did. Not what, but  _ who.  _ And Lena, such a beautiful woman could pull off a potato sack, chose to wear a simple, yet fitting navy blue suit without a tie and black dress shoes. To Cat it looked as if they were about to get married, and she noticed that something shifted between the two but now wasn't the time.  _ Later. _

“ So,” Cat sighed, eyes softening, “We're doing this?”

Kara looked to her lover, then back to their friends and family with a beaming smile, “We're doing this.”

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, also all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Uh...the smut scene, issa a little rusty, k? It's been a long fucking time since I had to write it, so be easy.:) Thank you all for the comments and kudos!
> 
> The vote! It's quite clear that everyone voted for the outing but I did take into account the readers who voted against it, but a vote is a vote though they had good reasons to vote against it! I hope I addressed everything, and closed loose ends of why Kara pulling a Tony Stark was a bad idea. Anywho, I'm exhausted. See you guys next time. 
> 
> Others will be updated this weekend! Peace!
> 
> C_S


	31. Media Princess (You Don't Own Me)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so long to update, life is a biatch ya know what I'm sayin'? 
> 
> I always appreciate y'alls comments, and kudos! I actually had to go back to chapter 1 and reread ALL 30 chapters, and I also went through the comments. And that also really helped me get my confidence back for writing this story. Not gonna lie, I've been going through some shit---so it really helped.
> 
> Let's do a recap?...Ahem.
> 
> Alright, so...
> 
> Kara was severely depressed and had a drinking problem when she met Lena who's actual name is Morgana Pendragon. 
> 
> They are actually soulmates. Literally.
> 
> Morgana is also a powerful sorceress who can, and has, destroyed multiple timelines to find 'her' Kara. Yes...she has killed BILLIONS of people with no fucks given.
> 
> Lena/Morgana has a sister. Regina Mills. Regina Mills is also married to Emma Swan.
> 
> Emma Swan is a dragon, Maleficents daughter. details, details.
> 
> Um...whatelse...
> 
> Oh, right. Supergirl became Superwoman.
> 
> The DEO is off the wall batshit, with Alex Danvers Spearheading it. Mon-El died brutally. 
> 
> Alex turned on the Martian for a promotion. 
> 
> Amanda 'The Wall' Waller is working the shadows.
> 
> Maria Hill and Natasha R. are here, and on team Superwoman. 
> 
> Kara is co-CEO of CatCo. Cat has more or less, adopted Kara as her own daughter.
> 
> Kal-El is groveling, but how long with that last, hm?
> 
> Oh, Lucy Lane is the Green Lantern...
> 
> Superwoman is also the beacon light for Superheroes all over the world...and she's about to come out of the closet. Wink wink.
> 
> AND SHE AND LENA FINALLY DID THE DIIIRRTTAAYYYY.
> 
> I missed a shit ton of stuff...but, hey. Anyways, enjoy!

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“ _ Danvers, you and whatever is left of the DEO are on thin ice.”  _ Alex sighed quietly as Amanda Waller practically yelled at her through the speaker of the small phone that was sitting on her brand new desk,  _ “You said you could handle Supergirl and look at the results, Director. You lost more than half of your unit, and you lost Superboy!” _

Alex turned her chair around, knowing that Amanda couldn't see that Alex had turned her back on the woman. She didn't need to be reminded of her failure when it came to Kara Zor-El, her now estranged sister. Alex had tried everything in the book she could think of to reel Kara in, but it was becoming increasingly clear that Supergirl—no,  _ Superwoman  _ wasn't going to comply.

“ _ Danvers you need to be aware that your ass is on the line, and I'm not sticking my neck out for you anymore. Turning on your own boss was a snake move, admirable almost. Not the case anymore—”  _ Amanda droned on with Alex only half listening. She was more interested in watching her second in command, The Guardian, direct their surviving Agents, and the new Agents the government sent to their new secret location, to their new posts. Helping them set everything up so that they'd be up and running their operations in the next twenty-four hours.

Alex sighed again, this time she was unable to hide her frustrations—not just at herself but the entire situation, “I'm doing everything I can, Waller. It's hard to take bring someone in when they don't have a goddamn weakness anymore!”

Amanda scoffed,  _ “Then you either find a way to take her out,  _ permanently,  _ or take out the pieces around her until she complies. I thought you were smarter than this, Director.” _

“ I'm trying to avoid more collateral damage, if you haven't noticed.”

“ _ I've noticed all of your failures lately,”  _ Amanda countered smoothly much to Alex's irritation,  _ “And with all of your failures, you've done nothing but help that sister of yours create an even bigger platform. Heroes all over think they have a chance now. They think they're better than us. Humans and the law. It needs to be regulated.” _

“ That's not my problem.”

“ _ It became your problem the moment you gave up the Martian for personal gain. Whether you like it or not. Listen, we're coming up with our own contingency plan for them, but you? You worry about the supers.” _

“ Wait,” Alex turned around, confusion written all over her face, “The supers? As in  _ both  _ of them?”

“ _ Well, of course Director. Superman has made it perfectly clear that he's against us,and what better way to set an example and a warning to Supergirl than her own flesh and blood.” _

“ Killing her cousin won't convince her to fight with us...”

“ _ Convincing? That ship has sailed, Director. I suggest you get it down, and quickly. If you need anything, put in a request form.”  _ before Alex could say anything more, Amanda Waller had hung up and Alex fought the urge to throw her phone against the wall. Her inner frustrations were interrupted when an Agent with an arm sling came into her office, looking panicked. Alex watched him pick up her remote off of her desk and turn on the TV.

“ Agent what the hell do you... _ what the fuck?!  _ Oh no. Oh, no no no! Please don't tell me she's this stupid! _ ” _

The Agent looked at his boss with wide eyes, taking a small step back when she stood and rounded her desk to stand next to him. Her eyes never left the TV screen, and he could understand why. Her job, all of theirs really, was about to get that much harder.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

The moment Cat Grant walked out onto the stage, the entire room full of reporters quieted down—the reporters that were handpicked by Cat herself to attend CatCo's press conference, and of course Cat's pettiness could not be contained. The Daily Planet, namely Lois Lane, was nowhere in sight. CatCo's  _ biggest _ moment was just several steps away, and Cat wasn't going to waste the opportunity to rub it in Lois' face. Hell, Cat was willing to bet a lot that she now knew about Lucy Lane than Lois could ever.

The media Queen carefully placed a high heeled foot onto the stool behind the podium and situated herself accordingly. The room was absolutely silent either out of respect for the Media Queen or fear of being kicked out and missing the biggest announcement of the century, as Cat had put it when she invited them all to attend in their best dress attire.

Bright flashes and soft clicking from the camera's continued on without much of a pause, and she allowed them their moments for still shots. This wasn't covered live by anyone except the CatCo network, of course, Cat was going to milk this for every ounce of newsworthiness she could. She wanted the pictures to circulate and the articles to be written from multiple media outlets—but CatCo will and has always, reserved the rights for interviews and live streaming of Superwoman.

She waited until her present company joined her up on stage and sat in the comfortably plush chairs provided. And while she was the CatCo CEO and standing at the podium, eyes weren't focused on her any longer. And she knew why, and she could understand why. Cat didn't need to turn around to see what they were seeing, and what they weren't quite believing. To her credit, Kara simply crossed her legs at the knee and kept her eyes trained on Cat.

“ Thank you all for coming,” Cat started calmly, after giving them all a few seconds to ogle her protege and their hero—not giving them time to make any connections before she gave them permission to, and effectively bringing the attention back to her. Though some eyes continued to stray, understandably so, “I have invited you all here to celebrate with me for one of CatCo's many milestones, however, I believe today will mark as the biggest in CatCo history. And if I may be a tad bit presumptuous, all of media history. Which is why only the best reporters, in my book that is, are here today and everyone else is on the sidelines fluttering about with curiosity.”

“ We are all aware that the future of journalism is constantly changing, from the stories to the platforms we use to tell those stories. And as journalists, it is our responsibility to be the best guard dogs we can be of the public sector, and I do feel very much at home best being in a room full of journalists such as yourselves.”

Cat waited until the gentle and appreciative applause died down, it wasn't ever day that  _ The  _ Cat Grant gave out compliments.

“ But, that being said—I did not bring you all here to congratulate you all for doing your jobs to the best of your abilities. My time, as well as your own, is much more valuable,” but of course what is a comment from Cat without a little bit of shade, “This is about CatCo...and CatCo's new CEO.” Cat had to take another pause as chatter immediately broke out but it quickly died down, all eyes drawn to her in excitement and confusion, practically begging her with their eyes for her to get to the point. But Cat Grant is not a woman to be rushed. She looked down at her phone discreetly, and saw that CatCo's ratings were steadily rising and she smiled inwardly.

“ When I started CatCo, I started from nothing. Living in a shoe-box, and new to the great National City. I worked for a time in Metropolis, but I soon realized that my talents were wasted there. I wanted to be more than a column journalist. So I quit without a plan, collected my last paycheck and wallah, here I am.” Cat paused and turned to look at Kara and smiled when she saw the young hero looking back at her with her head tilted, and holding Lena's hand lovingly. Kara saw the question in Cat's eye, asking her if she was sure—and Kara simply nodded her confirmation.

Cat turned back around, shoulders squared,  _ show time then. _ “But don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy being a driven woman in a male dominant playing field. I had to step on a lot of toes to get to where I am today. I lost a lot, personal or otherwise—but with the losses, came greater gains. A means to an end, as some would even say. And it was all a learning curve for me as grew older, started a family—and continued to let CatCo evolve into what it is today.”

“ So, what changed?” One brave reporter finally called out, ready to be thrown out for interrupting Cat but nothing happened, not today.

“ A man with a cape flew through our skies.” Cat smiled, and waved away the security, “The world changed that day, and it never stopped. And when his cousin, Superwoman...came along. I knew this was our new world, another chapter for us humans. Aliens and Metahumans coexisting with humans, we are truly in new times—and it has taken this new modern world for me to realize that I've been so occupied trying to narrate the story. I was never able to be  _ apart  _ of it. Always looking in from the outside.” Cat chuckled, “The secrets of a journalist.”

Cat gestured behind her vaguely, “Four years ago...I interviewed this millennial, who I swear picks muffins out of her hair every day,” soft laughter echoed through the room and Kara scoffed behind her—and it made Cat's heart swell so proudly over how confident Kara has become.

“ Despite my initial beliefs of her cheerily naive disposition...it soon became clear to me that it was not the case. To make a long story short, my longest lasting assistant was groomed to become CatCo's heir whenever I chose to step down. And today is that day, I suppose. And without further babble, I will allow her to say a few words. She will not be taking any questions, thank you.” Cat carefully stepped down from the podium just as Kara took her cue and was next to Cat as fast as humanly possible. They had purposely left out her name because they knew her looks alone was enough to point out the obvious, but they knew that in their field of work.

No one would dare call anything a fact based off assumption, at least not the dozens of professionals sitting in front of the stage. Not until Cat or Kara confirmed it themselves.

Kara used her foot to push the stool in and cat remained by her side, and Regina and Lena shared a look. They were ready, they all were. There was no turning back from this now. They, as a family, including Cat and her son—had put this all up to a vote. This was inevitable and as Cat has said time and time before, control the narrative.

Kara inhaled and exhaled deeply, looking at all of the eyes that were glued to her in awe. She was nervous, for reasons that were far beyond this room. The entire world was watching now, she didn't have to look down at Cat's phone to see that. Kara looked at the crowd once more before she turned her entire body to Cat, startling the older woman when she blatantly ignored the postcards sitting by her phone.

“ First, allow me to just say thank you, Cat. It has been...a great honor learning from you, knowing you more so, and the amount of trust that you've given me through our friendship and now, today, I have no words for what I am feeling. I know that CatCo is your empire and it will forever be your empire, Cat. I promise to take everything you have ever drilled into my brain, and make sure that CatCo continues to thrive and get the scoop on everyone.”

Cat snorted, but she couldn't fight the tear that was threatening to escape. She was handing the reins over to a young woman who was, well...the daughter she's always wanted, and Cat couldn't have been prouder.

“ I know you will. I taught you...you're already changing the world. I believe in you. CatCo...believes in you.”

“ Excuse me?” Kara and Cat turned towards the female reporter, “That was lovely and all, but we didn't quite catch your name?”

“ Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget to introduce myself?” Kara smiled at the woman, feeling far more confident than she did thirty minutes ago and she looked directly into the camera, directly at Alex and her government trigger happy friends, “My name, is Kara Zor-El. New CEO of CatCo ...but I believe that some of you, if not all of you, may also know me as;...Superwoman.”

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again guys!! Hope this chapter didn't disappoint. 
> 
> All mistakes are my own.
> 
> C_S


	32. Aftermath

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**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

They were all back at CatCo now, after that press conference, it was as if the internet was broken and Skye was working overtime to get the CatCo network back up for the second time, trying to prevent a third network crash from the sheer amount of online traffic. It was honestly too much for the servers to handle and Cat was all too excited about buying newer ones.

Downstairs security was working overtime keeping the paparazzi at bay, and Kara had to call CatCo's secondary security company as back up. They had been prepared for this response, twice the outcome but not triple. When they had gotten back to CatCo, when Kara stepped off the elevator still wearing her press conference assemble, the employees on her floor all literally stopped what they were doing (except Skye, she was busy hacking the government servers to see who all had a stroke), they stared at their boss with a mixture of awe and fear, more like intimidation. They all suspected for some time now because Kara made no real effort to hide from them, but knowing it for sure along with the rest of the world, it was a shock to their systems.

Signing those NDA contracts made more sense now, why they couldn't talk to anyone or the rest of CatCo about their new boss, or their projects. Why everyone and everything was vetted so carefully with a fine tooth comb. Kara had given them a chance to quit before things got real, but no one moved. An opportunity of a lifetime no sane career driven individual would pass up, and given what Superwoman...what Kara Zor-El has done for not only them, but their entire city—she deserved that same amount of loyalty in return.

Currently, Kara was sitting behind her desk watching the TV screens across the room curiously with her office doors wide open. Maria was at her desk, filtering through her emails, and only sending the important ones directly to her. Regina and Lena were sitting on the sofa in her office and talking quietly among themselves while allowing Kara to soak everything in on her own time. Lena wanted to talk to Kara, and to hug her and tell her how proud she was of her, but Regina advised against it. To give the new CEO time.

Kara had been tapping the end of her pen against her knee rhythmically. She was staring at her face on the TV screen, dozens of photos that had been taken were already sold to multiple news stations—her true birth name and her superhero name flashing at the bottom of them. There was no taking it back, she did it and there was no taking it back.

Kara didn't feel scared, or regretful—she knew the consequences and she accepted them with open arms. Her family was in this building, safe. She could hear Carter a floor above them in Cats office talking her ear off about superheroes who had public identities in his comics, like Tony Stark aka Iron Man. If Kara listened close enough, she could hear Maggie and Natasha leaving the hospital, wit Natasha driving and swearing at the traffic as they made their way to CatCo.

Maggie wasn't cleared to be released, but she'd somehow managed to talk her partner to bust her out of the hospital, using Kara's announcement as the perfect timing while all of the nurses were too stunned to really notice a patient escaping. Kara's eye shifted to Regina and Lena and she smiled. Lena caught her eye and winked. The excited noise in the city helped her tune out Superman who was hovering just outside of the city, screaming her name and demanding that she come and talk to him.

He was too afraid to enter the city, and Kara had no intentions of leaving the comfort of her second home to hold his hand. Well, not the last part but she knew she owed him at least an apology for blindsiding him.

Kara set her pen down on the desk, and stood, “I'm going out for a bit, there's something I gotta take care of.”

Lena stood as well, walking towards her lover, “Hero stuff?”

“ Nah, not really...family stuff, I think.”

“ Using the term family loosely?” Regina supplied and Kara nodded around Lena's shoulder, “Right, well, I have a job to do...see you both later for dinner? Emma wants to open up the grill tonight for some steak tacos, beer and a lot of other sides.”

Kara's stomach growled embarrassingly loud as Regina left her office with a laugh back to her own desk, giving Maria a break, “God, that sounds so good.”

Lena pulled Kara into her arms, into a tight hug followed by a chaste kiss (no need to give the entire office a show), “See you at home later?”

“ You're not gonna be here when I get back?”

“ I have some things to take care of at the bar...I'm thinking about selling it,” Lena edged, eyes searching Kara's for her reaction and it was exactly what she expected, “Listen, don't think about that right now, okay? We'll talk later. At home.”

The look of shock and worry faded away into a soft smile, “Home...”

“ Home.”Lena confirmed and kissed her favorite superhero again, “Home. Be safe, baby, I love you.”

“ I love you.” Kara hugged Lena tight again, almost as if she were afraid that she would never see the Sorceress again, still amazed by the fact that she couldn't break Lena and that she could hug her back just as tight if not a little tighter. Lena let Kara go and took a step back. She was gone in a cloud of smoke and god, Kara would never get over magic. Even if was happening right before her eyes.

Kara didn't bother to cloak her office as used her superspeed to change out of her dress and into her supersuit. She picked up her desk phone to inform Maria that she was stepping out for half an hour. Kara exhaled deeply, not looking forward to talking with Kal-El, but she knew she had to sooner or later. She wasn't her old self, avoiding confrontations to keep everyone happy—and part of her was still like that. The stronger side of her, was fighting it everyday, sometimes losing but those battles were getting easier everyday. Kara pushed herself over the rail and took off to the edge of the city.

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

By the time Kara got to Kal-El's location, he was on the ground and pacing angrily. Kara sighed and landed a few feet away from him making him stop and look at her with clear anger, fear and betrayal. And Kara wondered if she's ever looked at him like that before. Kal crossed his arms across his broad chest, mouth opening and closing numerously but nothing was coming out. Kara stood stock still, waiting patiently for him to finally say what was on his mind.

“ Kara...do you have  _ any  _ idea what you've just done?!” he stepped closer to his cousins, arms spread out in frustration, “Kara! They're going to come after you harder than they were before now that they know where to find you! Do you...are you so naive that you didn't think about Eliza, or Alex or, or...me?! And taking over CatCo?! Telling Cat Grant who you are! How could you betray me like this! I tried to be better for you and this—”

Kara scoffed, holding up her hands stopping his rant, “Okay, yes, I should've told you, but you have no right to talk about betrayal and trust! As for you 'trying for me', it's gonna take a lot more than you getting your ass handed to you by a Daxamite to make up for leaving me with a bunch of scientists that liked to dissect things for a living!”

“ Kara we've been over this! It was best for us both!”

Kara laughed humorlessly, closing her eyes tightly, ultimately deciding to let go of that topic before they have another repeat of her beating him down to get her point across, “Look, Kal. No one is going to connect you to Kara Zor-El, we don't spend enough time together as heroes...or as 'humans', essentially in the real world...we're nothing to each other, aren't we? Lois Lane is fine.”  _ unless people find out that her sister is the Green Lantern on the East Coast... _ ”As far as the government, they wont touch me if they know what's good for them.”

“ If they know what's...Kara, do you even hear yourself? You sound like Cat. You sound exactly like Cat Grant!”

“ I don't really see how that's a bad thing.” Kara knew she wasn't helping but she couldn't help but poke at him a little bit.

He shook his head at her, “You have no idea what you've done, people like us, Kara, aliens! We have secret identities for a reason. You put all of us in danger!”

Kara blinked rapidly, unsure of how she was putting any other superhero in danger, or anyone else for that matter, “Wait, what? Kal-El, in case you haven't noticed, my family is safe! The so called 'family' you're referring to? Eliza, Alex? Well, Alex is not on my side, and Eliza? She's completely safe, Alex wil protect her. But really, no one can trace me back to Eliza  _ Danvers  _ because Kara  _ Zor-El  _ never existed when she was pretending to be a  _ human _ ! This so called 'family' you speak of, me and you? Never existed, and that one is on you! My family is my girlfriend, her sister and her wife, Cat and her son, and two super spies who I'm positive aren't from this realm and—”

“ You realize that you can never have a normal life?”

Kara stopped, eye twitching slightly, she didn't bother to tell him that she had a contingency plan for that, “I'm well aware, Kal. Like I said, I took care of all of that before today...you and I aren't tied professionally or personally, but I  _ am  _ sorry for not giving you a heads up beforehand.”

Kal-El shook his head at his cousin, so many things running through his mind but he simply couldn't find the words to express what he was feeling and he certainly didn't know where to start. He took a deep breath, nearly choking on it, as he began hovering several feet in the air, “Your selfishness is going to come around on you Kara. Being a hero is not about the spotlight, it's about doing what's right! And this wasn't right! I thought I was right by standing by your side against the DEO, supporting you. But it was clear I was just enabling you. You're bringing them right to your front door and this time I won't be around to help you.”

Kara remained grounded, staring at the empty space that Superman was just occupying, “Well...that went well.” it went absolutely nowhere, but Kara couldn't dwell on that fact. He had every right to be upset, but what was done is done. Kara turned around when she heard sirens in the city, “Duty calls.”

DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU

_ Elsewhere... _

Amanda Waller sat at the head of the table full of government officials, all of them staring at the large screen in the front of the room, watching the main news coverage of CatCo's 'big announcement'. None of them said anything but it wasn't hard to guess what was on everyone's mind. Amanda Waller paused the screen when both Cat and Kara Zor-El aka Superwoman, were in the same shot together both of them smiling without a worry in the world. Alex Danvers and James Olsen walked into their room dressed in their usual fatigues and neither of them missed the image on the large screen before Amanda shut it off.

“ I believe you two know why you're here?”

Alex swallowed tightly, still glaring at the screen, “That, ma'am.”

“ Precisely,” one of the generals said, “This circus has gone on for far too long, and it is time that it has come to an end. Permanently.”

James scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets, “With all due respect, sir, we've tried everything...even Kryptonite doesn't work on her. She doesn't have a weakness anymore!”

Amanda eyed him curiously, and disdainfully, “Photographer turned hero, what? Did you miss your calling card, Mr. Olsen? This isn't a game. I've been doing this for years. Everyone has a weakness and a weakness can be leveraged.” Amanda pulled a folder from her bag on the floor, “Director Danvers, I brought you here because I like discussing sensitive information over the phone. But let's get one thing straight right now, Alex. Are you listening?”

Alex nodded curtly, “Yes ma'am, I'm all ears.”

“ Then look at me when I'm talking to you.”

James looked at Alex nervously, but Alex dutifully did as asked, and Amanda glared at the younger woman for a few seconds, “If I didn't need your crazy ass, I'd kill you right now and be done.” Alex didn't take kindly to her life being threatened, but there was nothing she could do but nod like the good soldier she was until she found another opportunity to move up the food chain.

“ Yes ma'am, understood.”

“ You work for me now, directly,” Amanda got to her feet, pushing her chair back into the wall, and the Generals around the table gave her their undivided attention, “And Director, if you ever cross me? Rest assured, death will be too easy for you.” James lowered his eyes, as did Alex and Amanda took that as a sign as submission, smirking—she moved on to more important topics. She pressed a button on the table, and the screen pulled up six images, mug shots, “This is something we haven't done before. Using soldiers that are  _ expendable.  _ With nothing to lose, and everything to gain. These are prisoners from the Blacksite as I'm sure you all recognize.”

“ Waller, what the hell is this? Have you gone and lost your mind?!”

“ Shut up, Lane. This is the world we're living in now, or have you forgotten this!” she switched the screen back to the news, “In the world of flying men and monsters, this is the only way to protect our country. By fighting fire with more fire.”

“ You're playing a dangerous game, Waller.” one of the other Generals warned, “I don't like this and I vote no.”

Amanda scoffed, pointing at the screen, at Kara Zor-El's smiling face, now in her supersuit as she hugged the victims she just saved, “And she's playing chess with the world. That's supposed to be my world and I be damned if I lose to an alien.”

Alex stepped forward, back straight with her hands behind her back, “What are my orders, ma'am?”

“ For now, leave Superwoman be. Let her have her 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you and Mr. Olsen will assist me with wrangling Task Force-X. We'll test them against lower tier superheroes before we go after the likes of Superwoman.”

“ When do we start?” James asked, coming up to Alex's side, and she glanced at him gratefully.

“ Now.”

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**DCU :: DC UNIVERSE :: DCU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short, but I just wanted to write about the government and such reactions and what not. I was going to put everything in one chapter but I didn't wanna ruin the fluff and potential smut with the drama that's this chapter. 
> 
> Soooo...yeah, Kara coming out (ha) was great but realistically, not everyone was going to be happy about it, but it was her choice, right? Anyway, thank you guys for your continued love for this story!! I really love that y'all love it!
> 
> See you all next chapter, steak tacos (so fucking good, I'm eating one right now at 2am) beer (got one of those too), and some sexxxxy times...and some reflection time. So be prepared for a longish type of chapter, I'm thinking.
> 
> C_S


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